Hunk and Lance's Explicit Guide to Achieving Zen
by Tobi'sgoodgirllovesSasuSaku
Summary: Since Shiro's disappearance it's been a trying time for Keith. Hunk and Lance notice and decide to offer a rather unorthodox method of relaxation.
1. Just Relax

**A/N: This idea actually came to me for Let's Get this Show on the Road for certain things down the road, but then I remembered I'm trying to keep confirmation of non-canon/not hinted at ships out of it. So then this happened.**

* * *

Keith sighed, running a hand down his face as he stared up at the ceiling. Despite the exhaustion running deep in his bones, he couldn't find it in hi to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see were the dimmed eyes of the Black Lion staring back at him. If his exhaustion allowed him to drift further, he'd begin hearing Shiro's voice during those last moments of the battle, relive the desperation that he felt protecting him from Zarkon, the crushing despair when the cockpit was empty. Sometimes he dreamed of Shiro calling out to him, begging him to find him and asking why he abandoned him yet again; other times, he merely dreamed of the day they told him Kerberos failed. Other times, on Keith's more unfortunate days, he dreamed of reunions filled with tears, or of scenarios where he could pretend Shiro was never gone, either from Voltron or the Garrison. Either way, he always awoke the same way: tears down his face, calling Shiro's name.

Even if everyone wasn't grieving and coping in their own way, Keith doubted he would seek comfort. He had always been a loner, always guarding his weaknesses even from eyes looking to help. He was like Pidge in that aspect; ever since Shiro disappeared she seemed to revert to her earlier disposition, refusing to let anyone in. She and Slav had taken residence in the Black Lion's hanger with occasional visits from Hunk, all three working on some ways to find Shiro based on Slav's multiverse theories. While they searched other universes, Coran and Allura searched this one, tirelessly scanning for any sign of Shiro drifting out in the cosmos.

Hunk and Lance seemed to be the only ones not working to find Shiro. However, their work, Keith conceded, was possibly even more important than locating Shiro. They were the ones making sure no one worked themselves to death, made sure people were still sleeping and eating. Lance's humor adjusted itself, going from brash and loud to mellow and subtle; despite the somber air of the castle, sometimes he could draw a smile. Hunk was constantly in the kitchen, stress baking a variety of both edible and inedible creations to share amongst everyone. He also theorized with Pidge and Slav, offering his hand at engineering a device to travel to alternate dimensions.

Everyone went about their personal goals, whether they be finding Shiro or keeping everyone healthy; everyone except Keith.

It wasn't that he didn't have personal goals at the moment. In fact, they could be summarized quite easily: find Shiro, and keep training so that no one else vanished. But he could only train so much before the exhaustion forced him to stop before he collapsed in a pile on the training room floor. As for finding Shiro…while he wasn't proud to admit it, Keith was terrified of being in the same room as the Black Lion. He was afraid that it would willingly open its jaws to him, a sign that he was accepting Keith as the new Black Paladin of Voltron. A sing that could be easily interpreted, for all intents and purposes, that Shiro was forever lost to them. On the other hand, he was afraid that the Black Lion would inexplicably keep him from entering; a fear that was generally unfounded, as Black had let him in twice without repercussions. However, the mere idea of Black, something so entwined with his mental image of Shiro, rejecting him for whatever arbitrary reason had him scurrying to the farthest reaches of the castle. The irony that this was essentially part of his Blade of Marmora trial brought to life was not lost on him.

What was lost on him were the soft knocks on his door; it was only when they became a pounding that he snapped out of his daydream. With a heavy groan he dragged himself out of bed, running his fingers through unkempt air in an attempt to comb through the tangles. He'd been expecting Pidge at the door at her wit's end with what she could accomplish with the Black Lion without someone who could operate the controls. He'd even been expecting Allura or Coran standing there somberly, expressing their deepest condolences for his loss but insisting that they had to choose a new Black Paladin. What he wasn't expecting to see was Hunk and Lance standing on the other side, looking as relaxed as they could be.

"Yeah?" he asked; internally he flinched at the harsh way it came out. The only reaction he saw was the way Hunk and Lance glanced at each other before deciding to speak.

"Mind if we come in? And before you say no," Lance held up his hands, seeing the look in Keith's eyes, "Hunk brought some space goodies."

Hunk pulled a plate from behind his back, placing it directly under Keith's nose. "Used some of the ingredients Kolivan brought from the headquarters. A lot better than some of the stuff I've made recently, trust me."

Keith vaguely registered the dull pangs of hunger the sight brought. The shape reminded him of lemon bars, the visual texture promising that if he bit into the treat it would be moist and chewy. Instead of a creamy yellow the bars were a deep purple speckled with neon green throughout, as if Hunk had used the food goo to act as a cement for the ingredients. What caught Keith's attention though was the smell, a spiced mint that had his mouth watering after only a faint whiff. Briefly he wondered if the ingredients Kolivan had brought had a specific effect on Galra, or if he truly was as voraciously hungry as these bars made him feel. Either way Keith knew he would devour the treats, so he stepped aside and allowed Lance and Hunk to enter his room; the two friends shared a smile before entering. Hunk pushed the plate further into Keith's space as Lance fell onto his bed, quickly making himself comfortable as if he were in his room instead of Keith's.

"Dude, your sheets are so scratchy," Lance grumbled, rolling onto his stomach. He propped himself up on his arms, blue eyes watching as Keith hesitantly took a bar from the tray. "Feels like sleeping on a haystack; no wonder you look like crap."

Before he could begin to even formulate a comeback Hunk had pressed the plate into his hands before turning to lecture Lance, one hand pressed on his hip and the other waggling in the air. "Lance I keep telling you, even if that _is_ fabric softener, which I really doubt it is, it's going to destroy your sheets!"

Lance waved a hand dismissively, " _Relax_ buddy, Pidge translated it for me and it's definitely not like, corrosive acid or something."

Keith cut in before Hunk could retort. "Did you two just…come here to argue about laundry?"

Hunk and Lance looked at each other before returning their joint attention back to Keith. "No, but it's a very important discussion to have," Hunk replied, hands on his hips. "It can get pretty heated depending on how you feel about it."

Keith nodded, eyeing the bar in his hand warily. "I'll keep that in mind. So what _did_ you two come here for?"

" _Well_ ," Lance drawled, stretching the word as if it were another part of his body lounging across Keith's bed, "We've noticed that ever since…'the incident', you've kinda not been yourself."

"Which is totally understandable," Hunk interjected, refusing to give Keith time to chew over both the bar and the reminder of Shiro's disappearance. "I mean, people deal and cope with stuff differently, you know? Naturally everyone's gonna be a little off."

Lance nodded, stepping back into the conversation, "Yeah! Everyone's dealing with it in their own way. It's just, based on circumstantial evidence we figured that you're taking it harder than say, Pidge or Allura. So we figured that we'd come and give you a comfort session; very personalized, private, that kinda junk."

Keith hummed, swallowing the chunk of pastry he had bitten. "So what, you're gonna pin me down to the mattress until I take a nap like Pidge?"

As he took a second bite, Lance shrugged. "I mean probably not, unless that's what you're into."

Keith's eyes widened as he inhaled sharply, a small piece of the bar getting lodged in his throat. He clutched at Hunk as he pounded on his chest, working to dislodge the piece; he lurched forward as Hunk slapped his back forcefully. He spat the moist ball onto the ground, the piece oddly reminding of a hairball, hands resting on his knees as he took deep gulps of air between coughs, barely registering the gentle touch of Hunk rubbing his back. He jerked his head up, glaring at Lance with as much fury as he could muster as he hissed venomously.

" _ **What?"**_

Hunk narrowed his eyes at Lance, who did look honestly apologetic about almost killing the Red Paladin, before turning placing his hand on Keith's shoulder to get his attention. "Keith, do you remember ever hearing any…rumors, about me and Lance, back at the Garrison?"

Keith frowned as he thought back to his time enrolled at the Garrison, searching his memory for any rumor that would explain this current situation. If it didn't involve Shiro or classes though, his recollection was sparse at best; things like gossip and socialization weren't even blips on his radar. However, deep in the dregs of his memories, he recalled a lazy night spent in Shiro's room ignoring homework in favor of half-heartedly listening to Shiro share some of the school's hot gossip. Apparently when you were the school's golden student you got a chance to corroborate whether the cadet level gossip had any credibility to it. The topic that particular night had been Shiro discussing the credibility of one of the steamier pieces he had heard during his time there: two students were apparently going around offering their services to anyone who seemed stressed.

" _Services," Keith asked, glancing up from the textbook opened in front of him. Shiro nodded, glad to have finally gotten a response that wasn't monosyllabic._

" _According to the stories, these two will do just about anything you ask of them; massages, just watching movies together, and even_ _ **sex**_ _."_

 _Keith hummed, tapping his pencil against the edge of his book, "So they're prostitutes?"_

" _That's where it gets really juicy though," Shiro's eyes gleamed as he leaned closer to Keith, breath a conspiratorial whisper. "These guys don't ask for any payment. No money, no class notes, no items; hell, sometimes they don't even ask to finish! They say that all they want is to 'help people relax'."_

 _Keith had to admit, not asking for anything in return was incredibly peculiar, especially at a place like the Garrison. Everyone here always wanted something in return for something, and having two people do something so intimate just for altruistic purposes? No wonder they were a hot piece of gossip._

" _They're also incredibly good at covering their tracks," Shiro continued. "However, considering that the rumors seemed to originate within the cargo pilot class, commanders are speculating that perhaps one or both of the perpetrators are in that program. But even then, that's just an educated guess at best."_

" _You seem very invested in this; any particular reason?"_

 _Shiro's face flushed slightly as he turned away from Keith's knowing smirk, "Get your mind out of the gutter! I would just like to tell them that, while their efforts are appreciated, they should stop before they get in trouble."_

" _Right."_

Keith felt his face flush as he stared at Hunk and Lance as the potential revelation dawned on him like an unwanted sunrise. He glanced down at the baked treat in his hand, a small part of him faintly whispering that perhaps the Blade were all secretly rave Galra who took hallucinogens when they weren't (or even _were_ ) trying to take down Zarkon. It would explain a lot about the layout of their base, the suit he wore during his trials, even the outfits they wore casually; anything to ignore the truth that _Shiro would have done intimate things with_ _ **Hunk**_ _ **and Lance.**_

Hunk waved his hand in front of Keith's face, "Hey Galra Keith? You okay there buddy? You're kinda turning purple and Kolivan did _not_ tell me it'd bring out your Galra side."

"I think he forgot how to breathe," Lance spoke up, now hanging off the edge of the bed upside, hands stuffed in his pockets.

At the verbal reminder, Keith inhaled deeply, leaping back away from Hunk. Hunk raised his hands defensively, clearly nervous about his reaction. But how else was he supposed to react after finding out that two of his teammates, friends, classmates, arguably brothers in all but blood were…were…

" _You two were_ _ **prostitutes,**_ _"_ Keith hissed, the statement also a question with the way his voice cracked and rose at the end. Hunk rubbed the back of his neck as Lance pulled himself into a sitting position, legs crossed on his bed.

"Uh, we never got paid, so technically it wasn't prostitution," Lance waggled his index finger in Keith's direction. "Think of it more like, friends with benefits! Except, you know, they weren't really friends but classmates. So I guess it was classmates with benefits?"

" _That isn't important right now,"_ Keith snapped; both Lance and Hunk flinched at his tone. Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to take a deep breath as he repeated Shiro's mantra to himself, placing the plate of treats down to distract himself. He had to remind himself that, at least according to Shiro, neither Lance or Hunk ever did it for sexual gratification, and that they did a wide range of activities; when it was staring you in the face, though, it was hard to remember anything.

"So, what, you two decided that I needed to be… _propositioned_ , in order to feel better," Keith asked, tone less sharp than before. It still held enough of a judgmental edge to it to cause Hunk and Lance to avert their gazes to different corners of the room, fidgeting nervously under his gaze.

"Well, when you say it like _that_ it sounds so dirty…"

"Look," Lance interjected, pushing himself off the bed, "If you don't want to, that's fine. We can just forget this all happened and go play Phantasm Two while eating those…whatever they are that Hunk made until we collectively pass out."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. While playing the game would be a simpler, safer option Keith knew it would do absolutely nothing to remove the edge that had been keeping him awake at night and in the training deck at all hours of the day. But, as he remembered from his conversation with Shiro, whatever Lance and Hunk did, even when it wasn't sexual, was usually relaxing enough to knock a person out immediately afterwards; something Keith desperately needed sooner rather than later.

He exhaled, shifting from one foot the other. "And…if I do? Want to, that is."

Lance blinked, not having expecting that response after his initial reaction. He quickly recovered, letting a small smile grace his face. "Then you let Hunk and I take care of you."

Keith drummed his fingers, contemplating the offer; both men were attractive in their own rights. Despite being a royal pain in his ass Lance was undeniably physically attractive with his tall, lean body the color of coffee with a tad more creamer than he would usually take and striking blue eyes framed by long eyelashes the same rich brown as the messy mop on top of his head. If he ever toned down the obnoxious attitude and toilet humor, Keith would even dare say that someone would be lucky to have him as their significant other. Keith glanced over at Hunk who, while not conventionally attractive, was just as appealing a choice as Lance. While he looked to be merely fat and fluff, whenever he flexed even the slightest the massive muscles beneath were made apparent; on more than one occasion Keith had wondered if his biceps would rip his shirt. Paired with his timid, compassionate personality, culinary skills, and thick brown hair, and one could easily overlook his debilitating case of Foot in Mouth Syndrome. Add in his current state and desire to sleep, and the offer was sounding far too good to pass up, consequences be damned.

Keith dropped his hands to his thighs, the resounding clap snapping Hunk and Lance's attention to him, "Alright; let's do this."

"Wait really," Hunk asked, blinking owlishly at Keith's sudden acceptance; behind him Lance was grinning.

"Yup," Keith nodded, gesturing vaguely at the two as he began to remove his gloves. "Gimme the whole package, or, whatever you call it."

"Oh I've got a package to give you alright," Lance purred, gesturing at himself as he leaned backwards. His only response to the innuendo was Hunk running his hands down his face with a loud groan while Keith stared at him with an expression conveying both his mild annoyance and unimpressed reaction. "Okay no, you can't set me up for a line like that and then get mad when I go for it! That's just-that's not fair dude."

"I'm not mad, just incredibly disappointed."

"Yeah same," Hunk replied; Lance gasped, causing Hunk to lift his hands up. "It's just, you have _better_ lines. Lines that _don't_ make me cringe and reevaluate all my life choices."

Lance grinned, leaning forward to rest his head on his knees, "But how else will you know you've made the best choices if I don't constantly remind you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd manage."

Lance hummed, eyes flitting over to Keith who had crossed his arms over his chest, "Speaking of managing, we've probably managed to bore Keith to death over here. How about we actually get this party moving towards the no pants part?"

Hunk glanced back over at Keith, face flushing at the gaze Keith fixed on him. He looked back at Lance as he fiddled with his fingers, eyes pleading for Lance to make the first move instead. Lance rolled his eyes and, with all the grace and gentleness of someone who's impatient for the main attraction to begin, pressed his feet into the small of his back and shoved. He stumbled forward, catching himself short of bowling Keith over onto the ground.

"Sorry," Hunk rubbed the back of his neck. "So, um, yeah, just making sure…you're still cool with this?"

"You wouldn't still be here if I wasn't."

"No yeah, obviously. I mean, you could probably kick both our butts into next week without breaking a sweat," Hunk continued, eyes darting to a corner of the room. "It's just, you know, consent is very important and I wanna make sure you're one hundred percent sure before we start anything. Not that we can't stop anytime in the middle though, cuz like, we can, but-"

"Hunk," Hunk's gaze jerked over to Keith at the sound of his name. Keith huffed, wrapping his fingers into the collar of Hunk's shirt, voice lowered to a whisper, "Stop thinking."

He tugged Hunk forward, pushing up on the balls of his feet to press his lips against Hunk's; he couldn't help the surge of pride at Hunk's startled noise. How, even though Hunk was the one to proposition this little liaison, _he_ could reduce him to a stuttering mess that needed someone to make the first move. It was a heady feeling, comparable to flying Red into battle and taking down Galra war ships and cruisers, a sense of power and control that had been sorely lacking in his life lately. Paired with the plush fullness of Hunk's mouth responding against his and the steady warmth of large hands grasping onto his hips, and Keith could easily see why someone would want to come back for more.

The hands on his hips began to prod, moving in small circles as they moved up to his lower back; Keith groaned, pressing more against Hunk to escape the sweet pleasurable pain of the massage. Hunk chuckled, continuing his journey of loosening the tense muscles that he found along his path. Trapped in Hunk's sturdy embrace Keith could only hum and whine as Hunk worked his magic, releasing tension that he hadn't even realized he had been carrying. He was vaguely aware of being turned around, but all thought flew out the window when Hunk reached down to continue his mission on Keith's rear, easily palming and squeezing both jean clad cheeks in both hands. All he could focus on was the desire to press himself against Hunk, wrap his legs around his waist, and let the Yellow Paladin carry him; briefly he wondered if the weight of recent events made him heavier, and if even Hunk would be unable to carry them. Before he could test this thought he felt a hand grasp onto his belt loops, pulling him to lay sprawled on the bed.

He only had a brief moment to take a breath and attempt to gather his thoughts before Lance's mouth was on his, kisses wetter and far less reserved than Hunk's. He groaned as a hand slipped under his shirt, black fabric bunching up as nails gently scraped over his stomach, allowing Lance to slide his tongue into his mouth. As his tongue was coaxed into following Lance's back into his mouth Keith's hands flew to press him closer, one fisting the fabric at his hip while the other tangled in downy soft brown hair; Lance breathed out a laugh at his enthusiasm before eagerly returning the sentiment. So engrossed in the heat of Lance's body and mouth pressing him into the mattress, Keith didn't notice Hunk kneeling at the edge of the bed, nimble fingers tugging his boots off. It was only when a soft but firm pressure was applied to the balls of his feet that Keith remembered the third participant in this endeavor; a third participant who, in his opinion, was getting the short end of the stick. Focused solely on that thought Keith pushed Lance up, regrettably detaching their lips with a lewd smack and thin string of saliva between them so he could focus bleary eyes on Hunk. Lance blinked, stunned from their previous interaction, struggling to piece together what was occurring.

"Keith…" He questioned, following his gaze to see Hunk expertly rolling Keith's ankles. Realization dawned on him; he grasped Keith's chin, directing steel blue eyes dark with lust to focus on him. "Don't worry about Hunk; he's more into the whole rubbing and massaging thing, you know? Not really a fan of penetration and making out."

"Uh, for good reason," Hunk chimed in, breaking his concentration on spreading Keith's toes. "You ever really think about the whole process? It's gross and, quite frankly, I can't find any way that people would actually enjoy it."

"That's cuz most people think with their dicks and not their brains Hunk. And _you_ ," Lance directed his attention back to Keith, "Need to focus less on what we might need, and more on letting go."

Any protests Keith might have had were immediately silenced as Lance connected their lips again, tongue not even waiting for an invitation as it dove back in to its previous rhythm. The most Keith could find himself capable of were moans and gasps that Hunk elicited when pressing down on certain pressure points on the arches of his feet. He hadn't thought that getting a massage while being kissed senseless would render him so pliant, but the sharp pain followed by a sweet pleasurable release as Hunk expertly worked the muscles loose, paired with the feather touch of Lance's hand trailing up his abdomen and slick caresses of his tongue, had him writhing and struggling to remember to breathe. Fortunately, Lance didn't seem to mind, using it as an opportunity to study every crevice of his mouth, relentlessly searching for the spots that would elicit the strongest reactions from the Red Paladin and overall dominating the kiss.

Hunk hummed, fingering the bottom of the jeans that Keith wore, "You know I hate to interrupt, but if I want to give a good massage you gotta get up so Keith can take his pants off."

Lance pulled away with a wet pop, frowning as he considered Hunk's proposal, "But Hunk," Lance whined, "He looks so good like this. Can't you just, I dunno, fit your magic fingers underneath the cloth?"

"Tried that; my hands are too big and his pants are too tight."

"Really? Cuz I think they are quite the perfect fit," Lance purred, eyeing the obvious bulge that Keith's jeans didn't hide. "What about just doing it over the clothes?"

"That's even worse!"

"Lance," Keith rasped out, voice husky arousal; both Hunk and Lance immediately turned their attention to him. "Lemme up."

Lance pouted, grumbling under his breath as he did exactly as he was told; Hunk leaned back on his heels, giving Keith room to work. Keith sat up, blinking rapidly to ignore the sudden rush of blood from sitting up too quickly after being prone for so long. He felt his flush deepen as he became aware of Hunk and Lance watching him, eyes following the slight fumbles of his hands as he worked to remove his belt. He cleared his throat, hoping to ease some of the awkwardness he felt; he held back a laugh as Hunk and Lance snapped to attention, similar to a dog hearing their food crinkle.

"You guys can…" Keith gestured vaguely with his hand, "You know, take yours off?"

As if the sound of a gun went off, Hunk and Lance sprang into action, both fumbling with their buckles; Keith rolled his eyes as he heard Lance give a muttered curse. By the time he had peeled off his black skinny jeans, leaving him in a plain pair of black boxers and his shirt, Hunk had calmly removed his cargo shorts and shed his vest, leaving him in his yellow shirt and rusty orange boxers. Lance yelped, catching himself on the bed as he tripped over the last of his jeans; Hunk snickered, and Keith couldn't help the small grin on his face.

"Hey, that's not funny," Lance groused, glaring at Hunk. "I could have been seriously hurt, and then you two would have had to explain to Coran how exactly this happened."

"I have explained my way out of far more embarrassing situations for you Lance," Hunk retorted; Lance waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, but you've never had Mr. Blunt-and-Literal on your side before."

"Are you insinuating that I'm a bad liar," Keith asked, eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. Lance smirked, scooting closer to Keith on the bed, hand overlapping his.

"Well I mean, if we take previous evidence and the fact that while we were kissing your tongue was as quick as lead, then yeah I'd hazard that guess," Lance teased, finger poking the center of Keith's chest. Keith scowled, smacking the hand away before grasping at the collar of Lance's shirt.

"I'll show you lead tongue," He growled before slanting his mouth over Lance's; Lance made a surprised noise in the back of his throat, hands scrambling to find purchase. Keith smirked into the kiss, tongue quickly taking the lead as he felt one of Lance's hands settle on his shoulder while the other tangled in the hair at the base of his skull. His smugness was replaced with surprise as the hand in his hair gave a sharp tug, eliciting a sharp hiss as his hand loosened its grip and his head jerked back. Lance took the chance to lick a stripe up the column of his throat, starting at the collar and ending at his earlobe.

"Should always ask before you take mullet," Lance breathed, hot breath fanning against the side of Keith's face. He readjusted himself so that he straddled one of Keith's thighs, his right thigh tucked neatly between Keith's legs. "I'd have gladly let you take the lead, but now you gotta face the music. Just make sure you stay nice and still for Hunk, okay?"

His hands dove down to Keith's ass, grasping the supple flesh and pulling him forward to grind on his thigh as he bit into Keith's earlobe. Keith's back arched involuntarily, eyes rolling in the back of his head at the first touch to his aching cock. He raised and dropped his hips a few times, addicted to the feeling of Lance's fingers digging tighter into his ass as he rubbed against the smooth skin of his thigh. He would have gladly ridden Lance's thigh to completion, chasing after that high that seemed to grow closer with every second, however the telltale feeling of the pressure from Hunk's fingers reminded him that with one wrong move he could potentially injure himself by accident. Summoning what little self-control he had left Keith ceased his movements, whining as the pleasure was reduced from raging inferno to building crescendo. Lance shushed him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth; Keith chased after it, pressing his lips to Lance's and allowing him to slide his tongue in.

Despite the slower pace, Keith would argue that it was even better than before when he was mindlessly riding Lance's thigh. Every press of Hunk's fingers released months' worth of tension and exertion in an instant, leaving behind muscles that simultaneously felt heavy with relaxation and light as air. This surreal feeling, coupled with the slow grind Lance had begun and the wet heat of Lance's mouth on his, had Keith's head spinning with desire. He felt his pulse and breath quicken as he felt Hunk's hands travel up his thigh, inching dangerously close to his straining erection; vaguely he wondered if touching dicks was considered "gross" in Hunk's book, or if he saw it as only another form of massage. He hoped it was the latter, as he somehow knew that the touch of those hands on his cock would be more intense than they were anywhere else on his body. To his disappointment the hands retreated, only to begin the same journey on the other leg; time seemed to slow to a standstill as he waited in anticipation for the gentle yet firm touch of Hunk's hands creep up his thigh. He held his breath as fingertips inched closer to the hem of his underwear, ghosting underneath the fabric for just a moment. Closer…. he just needed it _closer_ damn it.

When Hunk retreated once again Keith groaned, wrenching his head back and leaning heavily against the wall as his chest heaved. He fixed his hooded gaze on Hunk, ignoring how Lance swallowed as his tongue darted out to lick his lips, "Hunk… _please_."

Hunk had the audacity to smile at him, a gentle look as he continued to knead his muscles, "What is it Keith?"

"Need you to touch it," Keith mumbled, legs spreading best as they could with Lance straddled over him. He thought he might have heard Lance exhale heavily but couldn't be sure, as all his attention was focused on convincing Hunk to give him exactly what he wanted in that moment. He frowned as Hunk chuckled; what exactly about this was humorous?

"But if I do that, then you won't let me touch anywhere else. You'll just want my hand wrapped so tight around your dick you'll think you're fucking the universe's best fleshlight," Hunk replied, eyes glinting with a sinful mirth. "I wanna make you boneless for reasons besides milking you for all your worth. Think you can let me do that?"

Keith nodded wordlessly, unable to form a sentence as his mind worked overtime to process the various levels of filth in the unexpected reasoning. He wasn't the only one, as Lance stared at Hunk with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing as his mind obviously rebooted itself. Hunk ignored both their expressions, pulling his shirt off and wrapping his arms around the two of them so that he could reposition them to fit snugly behind Keith. He lifted Keith's arms above his head, pulling off the black shirt carefully before tossing it across the room. He placed his hands on Keith's shoulders and began to knead the muscles, pressing his thumbs into his back. Keith groaned, arching his back and leaning into the touch; he vaguely wondered why he had wanted those hands on his dick when they could do _this_ to his shoulders.

"You done rebooting there Lance," Hunk asked jokingly, slowly rotating Keith's head to work the kinks out of his neck. Keith hummed, eyes fluttering shut just as Lance snapped back to attention, eyes blinking rapidly.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good," Lance muttered under his breath, scrambling to pull off his own shirt. "Just…Jesus Christ Hunk, where did you learn to talk like that?"

"I'm asexual Lance, not a saint."

Lance shrugged, conceding to the point fairly quickly in favor of pressing more against Keith, thigh settled snugly between Keith's, bringing Keith's arousal back to the forefront of his mind. Keith moaned, pressing his face into the side of Hunk's neck as a full body shudder wracked his body. He felt Hunk's chest move with the deep chuckle before feeling a gentle pressure against his temple; he felt his face flush with something other than arousal at the gesture, having not expected something so sweet in the midst of burning arousal. It was similar to a breath of fresh air in the smoky room, a startling sense of clarity almost as dizzying as the passionate kisses and caresses from earlier. A nip at his pulse and hands sensually dragging themselves down his sides to play with the button on his boxers were enough to stoke the flames back to their previous heights, the smoky haze of lust clouding his mind again. The pressure against his temple disappeared in favor of pressing soft kisses to the right side of his neck as the fingers at his boxers swiftly undid the button. Keith groaned in relief as Lance reached in, pulling out the erect cock and beginning slow firm strokes.

The bed creaked; Keith opened pried his face out of Hunk's neck to watch as Lance resettled himself on the bed. Lance seemed entranced with watching his hand move over Keith's dick, fingers rubbing against the head to smear the fluids that had begun to leak during the earlier explorations. Keith found it difficult to swallow as he realized how close Lance's mouth was to the head, so focused on the image that he barely noticed Hunk having moved onto his lower back. Something warm and dark swirled in his gut at the idea of Lance, the most talkative member of the team, being unable to speak because he was too busy letting Keith use his mouth for his pleasure.

"If we had the right stuff, I'd eat you out," Lance spoke, eyes dark as he stared up at Keith; Keith's dick twitched in his hand in response. "Stretch you out with my fingers and tongue, get you so sloppy and wet you'd barely remember to call out my name. But condoms, lube, and dental dams aren't exactly easy to find in space, and I don't exactly want to forgo protection. But I'm sure this should be good enough for now."

With those final words and a wink Lance dove down, the head of Keith's cock slipping past plush lips. Keith gasped, attempting to buck his hips upwards into Lance's mouth but finding that instead that Hunk held them steady. Keith whined, thoughts focused solely on the burning need to thrust further into the warm wet heat that Lance was providing. Hunk shushed him, nuzzling and pressing light kisses against his neck as Lance slowly bobbed up and down, each time going a little further down than before. His mind blanked on each tight drag upwards; at one point he had settled his hands into the soft brown hair between his legs with no recollection of doing so. His nails accidentally scraped against Lance's scalp, eliciting a hum of approval from the Blue Paladin that had Keith keening and desperately writhing in Hunk's lap. Hunk lifted his head from nosing at Keith's pulse, lips brushing against the shell of his ear to whisper unintelligible sweet nothings. Still, it wasn't enough; he needed it to be tighter, needed it to feel something pulse around his cock in response to its intrusion. It wasn't until he felt his glans slip past the beginning of Lance's impossibly tight throat that he could identify what he needed. As soon as the sensation was there, it was gone, his tip sliding back to the front of Lance's mouth.

"More," Keith whined, tugging lightly at Lance's hair, hoping that he'd understand the message. Lance looked up curiously, watching his expression as he sank back down to the allow the tip to hit the back of his throat. Keith hissed, grip tightening in Lance's hair as his throat twitched around his cock. Through the mind numbing pleasurable haze Keith saw Lance's eyes widen in understanding as he pulled back, leaving a shiny trail of spit in his wake. Lance pushed Hunk's hands that were holding his hips out of the way, allowing him to brace himself and get as deep as he comfortably could.

Keith exhaled, fighting against the urge to hold Lance still and fuck into the fleeting tightness of his throat until he was choking on cum. Still he felt the tightening of his muscles even as Hunk dragged his hands upwards to knead at his chest. Slowly, teasingly, Hunk's fingers circled his nipples, a stark contrast to the speed at which Lance bobbed on Keith's dick. As if they read each other's minds Lance suddenly took Keith down to the base as Hunk pinched and pulled outwards, and Keith was plummeting over the edge as if he had been kicked over it.

Keith sagged against Hunk, breath coming in short pants; he winced as Lance swallowed around him, taking all of his cum. He shivered as Lance pulled off, the cooler air of the castle a far cry from the moist heat of Lance's mouth. So caught up in coming down from his orgasmic high that he barely registered being shifted from Hunk's arms to Lance's. It was only when Lance laid down with him that he looked up to see Lance running fingers through tousled hair.

"Lance, you need water," Hunk asked, the rustle of clothing indicating that he was getting dressed.

Lance nodded, grimacing as he licked his lips, "Ugh, yes please. Spunk always leaves such a nasty aftertaste."

"Yet another reason to avoid the whole thing in general."

Lance waved dismissively; Hunk rolled his eyes fondly as he left the room, carrying the plate of baked goods out with him. He turned his attention back to Keith, arm wrapped around his shoulder securely. "How you feeling now Captain Mullet?"

Keith blinked slowly, mind working overtime to slog through the sleepiness that had begun to overtake him. "Does…." Words seemed incredibly difficult to come by in the moment, "Does he…he need…"

Lance, thankfully, seemed to understand post orgasm speech, "Nah, he's sportin' a half-chub at best. Told ya, Hunk isn't really into the whole sex stuff; he's super into cuddling and kissing though. That's what gives him all those warm fuzzies, ya know?"

Keith hummed, too engulfed in his own warm fuzzies to really want to understand how other people got theirs. What he did want was to curl up and fall asleep, and the warmth that Lance was providing was certainly helping in that endeavor. He sighed, shifting to bury deeper under the sheets as he pulled his legs up; his left knee brushed something firm that had Lance stifling a groan. He peered up from beneath dark bangs to look up at Lance, who stared sheepishly at a different corner of the room.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that," Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "Just…got a little riled up myself during the whole thing. No need to worry though; it'll either go down on its own or I'll just…ya know, jerk it when I get up."

Keith shrugged, "Jus' do it here."

If he had to describe the sound Lance made, it would have probably been a cross between him choking on his own tongue and being punched in the gut. He wasn't sure what the big deal was; Lance and Hunk had helped him, so they should at the very least get to relieve themselves in the same room if they needed to. And since Hunk apparently didn't need to then that left Lance, whose face was turning an interesting shade of red.

"I…uh…" Lance spluttering, clearly searching for the right way to turn him down. Keith rolled his eyes, leaning down to bury his face into Lance's neck before licking a stripe up it in an imitation of what Lance had done to him earlier. As he licked he lightly ran his fingernails down his chest, causing Lance to shudder and arch into the touch. Playing with the waistband of his boxers seemed to snap Lance out of whatever daze he was in, as he quickly grasped Keith's wrist and pulled it upwards.

"Hey, y-you don't have to if you don't want to, ya know," Lance chided, squirming in an attempt to meet Keith's eyes. Keith ducked back down, nosing at his pulse.

"I know," Keith muttered before latching onto his pulse and giving a strong suck. Lance shouted, grip loosening on Keith's wrist as he tilted his head to the side to give better access. The same heady feeling from kissing Hunk earlier returned with a vengeance at the sight of Lance splayed next to him and allowing him to do whatever he wanted. If he hadn't come earlier Keith knew he would have been rock hard, so enticing was the image of cocky confident Lance being reduced to a submissive writhing mess on his bed, a barely noticeable flush spreading down his chest as Keith's hand dipped past the waistband of his boxers. Immediately his knuckles brushed against the stiff bulge and, with no further foreplay, he grasped it firmly and began to stroke. Lance's reaction was instantaneous; he dragged Keith from where he had been buried in Lance's neck up to his lips, mouth open and willing as his tongue pleadingly rubbed against Keith's. Where the other kisses had been gentle and possessing a finesse to slowly stoke the flames of desire, this one was rough and sloppy, the taste of desperation for climax drawing him in deeper. A few well pressured strokes and Lance got his wish, moaning loudly into Keith's mouth as wetness spilled in his boxers and over Keith's hand. Keith pulled back, observing as Lance ran his tongue over wet lips as he came down from his high.

Lance panted, arm thrown over his eyes, "Well…that was…something."

"Bad something?"

Lance shifted, giving a small smile as he looked at Keith from the corner of his eyes, "No no, good something. Heck of a lot better than jacking it alone."

Keith nodded, settling himself back to where he previously was before noticing Lance's situation. He watched as Lance's breathing slowly petered out, mesmerized by the slowing rise and fall of his chest. The sight must have lulled him into a light nap because the next thing he knew Lance was pushing off the bed, disturbing his rest as he offered exuberant thanks to Hunk. He grumbled, burying his face into his pillow; wasn't the whole point of this to _relax_? How the hell was Lance so freaking active? All he wanted to do was curl up in the sheets and sleep until someone inevitably forced them awake earlier than necessary.

"Hey," His complaints were stopped as he looked up at Hunk, who stood at the edge of the bed dressed in his Altean pajamas, "You okay there Galra Keith?"

Keith rolled his eyes at the nickname. "'M fine," He mumbled, rolling onto his side, "Jus' tired."

Hunk nodded, hands gesturing uselessly in front of him, "Yeah, no of course, that's totally understandable. But uh…you mind if I, you know…mind if I climb in?"

Keith sighed, rolling onto his side and arm raised as an invitation to Hunk. Blearily he watched as Hunk pumped his fist in victory before scrambling into the bed and engulfing Keith. He sighed, snuggling into Hunk's chest; he was so warm and soft yet firm, like a pillow perfectly created for him and him alone. In the back of his mind Keith compared him to that scene in a Disney film with the self-heating inflatable robot, deciding that this was definitely how that robot felt in that moment. He could have easily slipped into a dreamless sleep if it hadn't been for Lance's sharp voice cutting through the air.

"Hunk scoot over, you know I need to either sleep in the middle or on the edge."

Hunk rolled, taking Keith with him so that the Red Paladin's back now faced Lance, "On the Edge of Glory?" Hunk joked, grinning; Keith and Lance groaned as Lance climbed into the bed, pulling the covers over himself.

"Thanks Hunk, now I've got that song in my head," Lance grumbled, slinging an arm around Keith to pull him back to his chest. "Now I'm gonna have weird Lady gaga inspired dreams, and it's all your fault."

Hunk snuggled further into his pillow, arm tightening itself around Keith's middle, "Just so long as you don't sing in your sleep. You can't carry a tune man."

Lance gasped, but before he could counter Keith had pressed a finger to both his and Hunk's lips, fixing the both of them with a tired stare, "It's quiet time. This? This is quiet time. So be quiet."

The two huffed but acquiesced, readjusting themselves to get comfortable while accommodating Keith. Soon the room was filled only with the sounds of Lance's soft breathing and Hunk's comforting snores. This was how Keith found himself falling into a deep sleep, a small smile on his face as he allowed the warmth promising safety fully encompass his senses.

* * *

 **A/N: Lot of firsts in here! First time writing an asexual character and first time writing a threesome. So yeah…hopefully I did alright? Let me know!**


	2. Talk it Out

Keith seethed as he stormed down the hallway, hands balled tightly into fists as he ignored Allura and Kolivan's voices from the control room. Logically, he knew that this day would come; it was inevitable that he be asked to become the Black Paladin, given they were still fighting a war and he had demonstrated the ability to pilot Black. What he hadn't realized though was that Allura would make the suggestion that one of the other paladins would have to switch lions, and that she insist that Lance switch from piloting Blue to piloting Red, allowing her to pilot Blue in his stead. It wasn't that he thought Lance shouldn't or couldn't pilot Red; he had proven himself capable to be an astonishing pilot and fighter when push came to shove. No, what baffled him was that Allura, a ferocious instinctual warrior with a reckless streak almost as long as his who claimed to have a mystical connection to all the lions, would suggest taking Lance, who had chewed Keith out for just being _interested_ in the past of the Blue Lion, away from his beloved lion without even asking if it was agreeable to him. It was inconsiderate, it was mind boggling, and for some reason it made something ugly twist in his chest at the notion that Lance would gladly give up his cherished lion to his beloved princess.

Before he could follow the wisp of a thought down its dark rabbit hole, he heard shrieks of laughter floating down the corridor. He turned towards the sound, feet moving with a mind of their own; normally he would have gone to beat a Gladiator into submission. However, ever since his session with Hunk and Lance Keith found himself inexplicably drawn to either of the two whenever he was feeling off. They hadn't done anything as intense or as intimate as the first time despite the frequency with which Hunk and Lance sought him out and vice versa. They would either train with him, making sure he didn't push himself beyond his limits like before, or include them in their dep philosophical discussions such as "If Alteans can shapeshift, can they shapeshift into animals? And, if so, does this mean bestiality is okay with them?"

Coran had not appreciated that line of inquisitive thought and made sure to let them know when he sent them on a supply run for a root known for spontaneously becoming a fifty foot Venus Flytrap that craved human flesh. Apparently a petty Altean was a deadly Altean, and looking back on some of their previous training sessions Keith wondered how they had never figured that out before.

Still, even with the Hilrutian Pliwort added to his ever growing list of nightmare fuel, this was close to normal as Keith was feeling ever since Shiro had gone missing. The yelling and shouting became more distinct, and for a moment Keith could almost pretend that everything was back to normal, that Hunk and Pidge were merely trying to squeeze in tech time in between an onslaught of missions. That was another thing that had changed; ever since Shiro had disappeared there had been a distinct lack of missions, giving Hunk and Pidge plenty of time to fiddle with the console purchased at the Space Mall. There had been a few minor injuries to both humans and console, and plenty of colorful words to go around, but Hunk and Pidge had been able to connect the console to a screen on the ship. It was jarring, seeing a piece of their home planet amongst Altean décor, its outdated technology made painfully apparent. But everyone agreed with made the castle homier, livelier even.

"Keeeeeith _Jenkins_!"

Livelier, however, was not always a positive thing.

Upon starting up Phantasm Two they had discovered that not only was it not a multiplayer game, but that it only had three slots of saved games. Naturally one slot was reserved for Allura and Coran whenever they wished to play, leaving two slots open for the four humans to divide amongst themselves. Keith had no desire to indulge in the game and Lance only enjoyed multiplayer games, leaving Pidge and Hunk to decide if the last two slots should be used for their own playthroughs. Pidge had immediately snatched up the second slot, going on a rapid fire rant about the game and how she had pre-ordered it back on Earth and _guys look at how you can utilize the power glove!_ Hunk, however, was hesitant; of course he wanted to play, but he also didn't want to deny anyone the possibility of playing, as Pidge was possessive of her playthrough and Allura and Coran had barely touched theirs. It was only after a small skirmish where Keith had recklessly rushed in that Hunk had what Lance deemed an, "utter stroke of brilliance", on what to do with the last slot. He had gathered the Paladins together and proudly presented his idea: Keith Jenkins.

The name had caused confusion; according to Hunk it was a mash-up of Keith's first name and the last name of a player in _World of Warcraft_ who was made famous by rushing into a delicate dungeon that required meticulous planning. The rules of the game were simple: see how far you could make it through the game without planning for battles or thinking about your future actions. When you used up all your lives, your run was over, and the next person could go. The goal was to see who could get the farthest in the least amount of time; currently Lance was the Champion. It was never a secret when someone was playing, mostly because of the rule Lance had implemented where when you started your run you had to bellow "Keith Jenkins", which usually alerted the rest of the castle to come and watch the inevitable virtual slaughter.

The door to the common room slid open, immediately displaying the hanging screen; on it the game's avatar ran through a battlefield, sword swinging wildly. In the center of the floor sat Lance, controller tight in his hands, while Pidge sat next to him and Hunk sat behind them on the couch. Hunk and Pidge glanced over their shoulders, raising a hand in greeting while Lance stuck the tip of his tongue out, focus completely on the screen; Keith nodded in response as he stepped into the room.

"Hi person who entered I'd look at you but- _No no no no no no_ ," Lance screeched, mashing buttons manically as Pidge howled beside him, clutching her sides.

"Get good scrub," She shouted, watching with glee as Lance narrowly missed dying on multiple occasions. Keith ignored the outburst as he jumped over the back of the ocuch, landing beside Hunk with a bounce.

"Hey Galra Keith, what brings you around," Hunk asked, eyes glued to the screen. He snorted as Lance's avatar jumped over a cliff, Lance screaming the entire way down.

Keith shrugged, idly watching the screen from the corner of his eye, "Heard the shouting. Figured it was better than wallowing. You?"

"Oh well, Pidge almost sacrificed Slav to the Black Lion. Luckily we stopped her while she was still setting up the candles."

"Hey," Pidge interjected, turning to point an accusatory finger at Hunk, "You know _just_ as well as I do that if a piece of tech isn't working despite your best efforts, a blood sacrifice is the only next logical step."

"I mean _obviously_ , but- wait a second," Hunk's head snapped to look over at Keith. "You're wallowing? What's wrong?"

Keith drew his knees up to his chest, avoiding the concern in Hunk's eyes, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

He could feel Hunk's eyes boring holes into the side of his head, clearly not buying the flimsy excuse. Honestly, if he were in Hunk's shoes he wouldn't buy it either, though he would probably approach it with far less tact than Hunk was displaying. But he couldn't bring himself to talk about his discussion with Allura and Kolivan, couldn't talk about how he's failing to protect someone on the team yet again. He hadn't even sat at the helm of Black and already everything was falling apart.

He was pulled from his rumination by Hunk grasping his shoulder and yanking his head into his lap. He stared up at Hunk with wide eyes, a million different questions running through his mind. Before he got a chance to voice any of them he felt firm fingers running through his hair, tips gently massaging his scalp causing all higher brain functions to cease in order to fully enjoy the sensations. He sighed, eyes fluttering closed as he unconsciously nuzzled further into Hunk's lap; distantly he heard the sounds of Lance's shouts and Pidge's jeering. It was almost as if he had been transported to a neighboring planet, one with the universe's comfiest pillows and magic massaging fingers that made one forget all about their ailments. A particular scratch behind his ear had him pushing into Hunk's hand in search of more, sighing deeply once he found it. The hand stopped and suddenly his planet was struck by a miniature earthquake, causing him to open his eyes to glare up at the giggling boy.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Hunk snickered, hand raised as if he was trying to keep it all in, "In the moment, you reminded me of a cat, and…and I wondered if G-Galra purr!"

Unable to contain himself any longer Hunk burst into boisterous laughter, leaning back against the couch to brace himself. Lance's shoulders shook with silent giggles as he tried and failed to keep the controller steady as his avatar engaged in melee combat. Next to him Pidge grinned, pushing up her glasses as she looked over at Hunk.

"I think you're missing a far more interesting hypothetical here Hunk," The castle seemed to hold its breath. "If Galra _do_ purr, then does that mean Zarkon purrs?"

The avatar fell into a spiked pit as Lance fell backwards, throwing the controller in favor of grasping his sides as he shrieked with laughter. An image of Zarkon, tall, dark, and imposing, purring like a motor boat as he got his chin scratched popped into Keith's mind; he couldn't have stopped the graceless snort even if he had tried. That was the straw that finally broke the camel's back for Pidge, as she burst in raucous laughter which encouraged the three males to laugh even harder.

"G-Guys…" lance panted, struggling to speak through the giggles, "Guys, wh-what if…what if w-we've been d-doing this wrong? Wh-What if to win we…we just need a giant _laser pointer oh my God._ "

"Quiznak," Pidge hissed, pounding on the floor. "Do _not_ tempt me to put a fucking giant laser pointer on your lion."

" _Please_ do it, it'd be so fire!"

Gradually the laughter died down as Pidge and Hunk veered off from the hypothetical to the actual science of fashioning Anti-Galra weapons in the form of Earth's most popular cat toys, with Lance interjecting every now and again with a specific example of combat usefulness. Keith resettled himself in Hunk's lap, eyes sliding shut as he listened to the excited chatter of his teammates like a child being sung to sleep by their favorite lullaby. He easily could and would have slipped into a much needed nap had the sound of the door sliding open accompanied by the soft tapping of shoes against tile disturbed the rhythm of the conversation.

" _What_ on Altea are you four doing," Allura's voice was accusatory, as if they had committed a personal fault against her. "You should be preparing strategies to fight against the Galra, not…lollygagging about on the floor!"

The four slowly sat up, none of them meeting Allura's eye, each looking as sheepish and guilty as if a professor from the Garrison had caught them goofing off in class. Eyes darted around the room, each of them looking to another to be the first to speak. Lance leaned back on one hand while he waved the other dismissively, choosing to be the one that broke the silence.

"Relax Princess, Hunk and I just-"

"Do not tell me to relax," Allura snapped; Lance flinched, making himself as small as possible as Allura continued. "The Galra Empire is still standing strong, the universe's only hope is currently inoperable without a fifth Paladin, and you two decided it was in our best interests to distract everyone?"

Keith felt the dying embers of his anger from their previous argument spark back to life as he watched Lance and Hunk divert their eyes to the floor, faces flushing in embarrassment at her reprimand. Under normal circumstances he would be inclined to agree with Allura, would stand by her side with arms crossed over her chest as he fixed an exasperated stare on the two of them. But this wasn't normal, not even by their newly adjusted standards, and so Keith did what he did best in the face of change: he lashed out at the nearest authority figure.

"Why don't you lay off? They're just worried about everyone."

The unspoken _unlike some people_ rang as clear as a bell in the deathly silent room as Keith and Allura locked eyes. Unlike the others, Keith never cowed no matter how intense the other person; if anything, he straightened his back and forced them to back down instead. This time was no different, even with the cold unforgiving vacuum of space that was contained in Allura's glare trying to snuff the fire burning in his. Everyone knew it was a battle of wills between the two most driven members of the team, a battle that could easily last a lifetime; the question on everyone's mind was which would have the sense to call a draw.

Allura exhaled, mouth set into a firm thin line, "Well you've had your fun. I expect everyone to return to doing something productive immediately," She spoke, her eyes never leaving Keith's. They promised that though this battle had come to a draw, their private war was not finished. With that she turned on her heel, the soft clicks of the door sliding open and shut being the only sound accompanying her departure. However, the thick tension that she had brought hung heavily in the room, choking any attempts at relaxing and serving to wind Keith up further. Did she forget that she was also a recipient of the same kindness that Lance and Hunk had just been reprimanded for? Had she forgotten the food they brought, the gentle reminders to sleep, the poor attempts at Altean humor, all to keep her spirits up? And this was how she repays them; with a harsh reprimand and suggestion to rip one of them away from their Lion? He didn't notice how his nails dug into the leather covering his palms, or how three sets of eyes watched him as if he were a ticking bomb.

Pidge's over the top clearing of her throat brought Keith out of his anger induced haze; it was almost as if she was trying to clear the tension in the air by clearing her throat, "Well, I should probably get back to nagging the Black Lion. Maybe he'll finally spit something up."

Keith barely registered Lance and Hunk's send-offs, her innocuous comment ringing loudly in his ears. They should be trying their hardest to find Shiro, should be preparing for battles with the Galra using only four lions, not…not having fun. Looking back, he found that even his training sessions with Hunk and Lance had been less of a physical challenge for him, and yet he was still content. When had he stopped pushing himself, isolating himself to focus on the mission? When had he become so…so selfish, as to enjoy himself while Shiro was missing, most likely suffering a fate worse than death?

He was jolted from his thoughts as Hunk's hand rested itself on his shoulder; he shrugged it off, pushing off the couch, "Allura's right; we should be focusing on fighting, not on fun. I'm going to the training deck."

He didn't miss the tentative glance between Lance and Hunk as he headed to the door, "Cool, just give us a tick and-"

"Alone," He stressed, looking over his shoulder at the two. He then turned and exited the common area, not giving them a second glance. If he had, he would have noticed the concerned knowing looks Lance and Hunk gave to each other behind his back.

* * *

Keith sighed, one hand trying to rub away the ache in his neck while the other idly swung his bayard at his hip. The Gladiator had pushed him to the brink of his limits like he wanted, but now his body thrummed with the thrill of exertion obtained only with a hard training session. It would take hours before he could unwind, and with his luck something else would occur that would add onto the energy coursing through his veins. Perhaps if he just walked laps around the castle until he collapsed? It would give him time to decide how he felt about his current situation and the dilemma that they faced.

So caught up in his thoughts that Keith didn't noticed that he had passed the Yellow Paladin's room, or that the door had slid open seemingly of its own accord. He did notice when two pairs of hands grasped his shoulders and yanked him into the room, a startled yelp leaving his mouth. As soon as the door was sliding shut he was turning, harshly grabbing the arm of one his assailants and twisting it behind their back. He ignored their whine of pain as he pressed them more into the wall, the tip of his activated bayard pressed against their jugular. Keith's brows furrowed in confusion as he took in the thin frame swimming in a large jacket, brown hair messed as he squirmed against the wall.

"Okay, as much as being pressed against a wall has featured in my fantasies," Lance panted out, looking over his shoulder, "I did not factor in something sharp and pointy. But you know what, I can work with this, I'm flexible."

Keith's head whipped to look over his shoulder; Hunk gave a small smile, waving apologetically from his position a safe distance away. He huffed, rolling his eyes as he deactivated his bayard and stepped away, releasing Lance from the hold. Lance sighed in relief, pushing himself off the wall and rubbing his now sore wrist.

"Alright, good to know I still have use of my arm."

"What the hell were you doing," Keith hissed, arms crossed over his chest. Lance leaned back against the wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, eyes roving over Keith's form as they searched for an answer to an unknown question.

"Well, Hunk said that you came into the den kinda upset, and then after Allura left you were all wound up again," Lance explained as casually as if he were talking about the weather, "Mind letting us in on the secret inner workings of your mind?"

Keith suddenly felt tense for other reasons, right arm rubbing his left bicep. He bit his bottom lip, moving his gaze from Lance to behind Hunk, refusing to look either in the eyes, "It's…it's nothing. Just…you know, Shiro stuff. Realized I haven't been doing my best."

"Yeah no offense, but that's a crock of bull Keith," Hunk's voice cut in; startled steel-blue eyes met serious brown. "If it were just Shiro stuff you wouldn't be doing all your 'I'm internalizing this and refusing to talk' tells."

Keith blinked, eyebrows raised, "I'm, I'm not-What do you mean tells?"

"The refusing to meet our gazes, the whole crossed arms and then grabbing your bicep, the lip biting, hell even the stuttering," Hunk listed the items on his fingers, "You did all this when you were hiding your suspicions about being part Galra, and now you're doing it again. If it were just Shiro angst, you'd have some of the same tells but would probably huff a sigh and just tell us in your stilted way that we've all come to know and love."

"Love is a very strong word to use about how I feel about how he speaks," Lance piped up; he raised his hands defensively as Keith turned to glare at him. "What? I thought it was honesty hour; I was being honest."

"There's plenty of time for us to critique Keith on his use of the English language later," It was Hunk's turn to receive the glare, this time with a hint of exasperated betrayal, "Now however is the time for us dig and needle Keith for whatever weighs heavily on his heart."

"I told you guys, it's nothing."

Lance snorted, "Yeah, and I'm actually Altean royalty. Look, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Honestly since you're so stressed it'd probably do more harm than good anyway, ya know? So here's what we're gonna do instead: we're gonna get you to relax like last time, and then afterwards we'll talk if you're up to it. If you're still not up for it, well hey, at least you'll be relaxed."

For the second time since being pulled into the room Keith was surprised, "You're…you're not forcing me to talk?"

Lance tilted his head to the side, confusion written clearly on his face, "No? I mean _obviously_ we want you to tell us what's wrong so that we can help, but like…if you don't want to then we're not gonna _make_ you."

"Yeah," Hunk chirped from behind him, body closer than before, "The whole point of these sessions is to leave here feeling relaxed, not 'be relaxed for five minutes and then get tense cuz someone made me talk about feelings.'"

Already Keith felt small tendrils of stress leaving his body, posture relaxing, "That's…I've never really had someone be okay with me not wanting to talk."

Hunk reached out, hand gently cupping the back of his neck, "What about Shiro?"

He sighed, eyes fluttering closed as he felt the gentle squeezes release the tension of the day from his neck, "He'd never say it, but he'd always give me these really disappointed looks. Like even though he wouldn't push me, he still expected me to talk to him."

Lance pressed behind him, hands grasping his hips, "Ah yes, the disappointed parent look. The most highly advanced guilt trip technique that all moms and some fathers have mastered."

Keith shuddered, the added warmth of Lance's body seeping through his thin black shirt and the material of his jeans. He felt as the two slowly turned him so that his back faced Hunk; he groaned as both of Hunk's hands immediately set to work on the muscles of his shoulders, taut after the exercises he had put them through. The feeling of a forehead pressing against his and a nose brushing against his as gently as the brush of a butterfly's wings had him forcing his eyes open to stare into the deep blue of Lance's. Lance's eyes flitted to look at his lips, before coming back to ask the unvoiced request for consent. Keith looped his arms around Lance's neck and pressed forward, lips connecting instead of giving a vocal reply. He sighed as Lance languidly coaxed his mouth open, kissing as if time had paused itself just to allow them an eternity for this one moment. Where their last encounter had been fiery explosive passion, this was slow burning sensuality; where there had been tentative caresses unsure of their path, there were now firm strokes with clear intent. Keith groaned as Hunk began pressing soft kisses along the side of his neck, torn between wanting to press back against Hunk or press more into Lance, hands tangling in the hair at the base of Lance's skull. The decision was made for him as Lance pulled back, panting with a playful grin and flush on his cheeks.

"How about we move this to the bed," Lance purred; his hands slipped under the hem of Keith's shirt. "I'm sure you're dying to get a repeat performance of last time, yeah?"

Before Keith could respond Hunk detached himself from his neck, hands slipping to wrap around his waist, "Actually Lance, why don't I take Keith to the bed while you go fish out the surprise I have for you two in my dresser drawer?"

Lance practically sprinted to the dresser, almost taking Keith with him in his haste to begin digging for Hunk's present. Keith turned to admonish him but was interrupted by the squeak that left his mouth as Hunk effortlessly lifted him into his arms, one arm comfortably under his knees and the other cradling his torso to his chest. He tried to will the blush away as Hunk and Lance looked at him in surprise, a sort of surprised glee at the discovery playing out over their features, but being held in Hunk's arms as if he weighed nothing was certainly not helping the flush.

"The fact I make that sound does not leave this room, got it?"

Hunk began walking to his bed, "I dunno man, it was pretty cute. Feel like everyone should know about it."

" _ **It does not leave this room."**_

Hunk chuckled, sitting on the bed and arranging Keith to straddle his lap, "I was kidding; of course it's not leaving this room," He grasped Keith's chin, voice dropping to a sensual pitch, "Everything that happens here is for our eyes and ears only, no one else's."

Keith tightened his hold on Hunk's hips as their lips connected, high pitched groan caught in his throat and cock twitching in response to the possessive words. He wasn't sure if Hunk was okay with him humping his lap, not sure if it crossed the line drawn between "acceptable activity" and "body fluid swapping", so he focused his energy instead in pressing harder against him and getting as much of his thick locks into his hands as possible. He was rewarded by Hunk's huff of laughter at his enthusiasm and the feeling of hands sliding under and up his shirt, the fabric bunching as they moved. He lifted his arms and disengaged for the moment it took to pull the shirt over his head and be tossed to the side of the room; he gasped as he felt Hunk's thumbs brush against his pink nipple.

"I didn't get to play with these much last time," Hunk murmured, watching the Red Paladin arch into his touch. He leaned forward, kissing up the middle of his neck to place a light nip at his jaw, "But with how long it's taking Lance, it's looking like I'll be able to give every inch of your body worship tonight."

Through his lustful haze he heard Lance give an indignant shout. "Hey man, I am trying my hardest to find whatever the surprise is without touching your underwear!"

Hunk pulled away to shoot a questioning look over Keith's shoulder, hands idly kneading his pectorals, "I said _dresser_ , not night stand."

"What? That's totally a dresser!"

"Lance does that look like it has enough room for a mirror on top of it?"

"…Well not with that attitude," Lance mumbled, "Also, is that seriously the defining characteristic of a dresser?"

"In American English, yes," The sounds of Lance grumbling as he moved to another side of the room could be heard; Hunk rolled his eyes as he turned his full attention back to Keith. He pressed a quick kiss to his lips as he lifted him under his arms, rotating him so that his back was against his chest. Keith shuddered, the movement causing his hard cock to rub against the fabric of his jeans and the heel of Hunk's hands to brush harshly against his chest. His head lolled back against Hunk's shoulder, chest heaving with quick pants as both of Hunk's hands moved down his sides, fingertips pressing into the outside of his thighs. Just as Hunk's hands cupped the inside of his thighs, raising his hopes that perhaps Hunk would cup other things, Lance let out a sound similar to a startled chicken; he felt Hunk smile into the skin of his neck. He opened his eyes, prepared to snap at Lance for disrupting Hunk's wandering magical hands once again, only to feel himself freeze and flush as he stared at what Lance held. There in thin long fingers were a bottle of some liquid and small squares that appeared to be made of tinfoil, items that were so painfully similar to…

"Sweet Cheesus and crackers," Lance whispered in reverence, "Where in the universe did you get your hands on lube and condoms?"

Hunk shrugged, arms wrapped snugly around Keith's waist, "I asked Coran if Alteans had anything similar, and asked if we could use some."

"You asked Coran for lube and condoms?"

"You told Coran what we've been doing?"

"Not just condoms, but also dental dams," Lance's eyes lit up as if he were a child meeting Santa Claus in person, "And no Keith, I didn't tell Coran what we were doing. I told him that Lance wanted to have them just in case, but he was too embarrassed to ask Coran for them."

This information plus the petulant scoff that Lance made had Keith chuckling in seconds. "The betrayal," Lance ranted as he walked forward, hand holding the items gesturing wildly, "The audacity, that my best friend would imply such things to our advisor. Truly, Chris Brown was correct when he said, and I quote, ' _these hoes ain't loyal_.'"

"Are you saying you're not loyal," Keith questioned, smirk on his face, "You know, since you're the hoe in this scenario."

Hunk's deep laughter caused Keith to bounce in his lap; the twitch of Lance's lips upwards destroyed the offended expression he tried to play, hand pressed against his chest, "Just for that, I'm going to show you just how loyal this hoe can be," Lance jokingly grumbled, placing the items beside them as he climbed into the bed, pushing his jacket off his shoulders to join Keith's shirt on the floor.

Hunk readjusted them to give Lance room to move to remove Keith's boots, muttering something under his breath about heathens and shoes in the bed. Hunk nuzzled the side of Keith's head, hands idly toying with his belt buckle and teasingly brushing just above the bulge in his pants. Keith shivered, hips bucking up in search of more of the tantalizing friction and pressure that Hunk provided; he couldn't help the whine as Hunk pulled his hands away as if realizing his mistake, a kiss pressed to his temple in apology. Just as he was beginning to focus on it he felt his face being turned and a kiss being pressed to his lips, a tongue slipping past the seam of his mouth to play with his. He pushed forward, blindly reaching for the body pressing him into Hunk's and reaching a smooth shoulder; using it as leverage he hoisted his legs around Lance's slim waist, moaning as his groin ground against the hard length hidden in his pants. For what felt like a blissful eternity the three stayed entangled that way, Lance and Keith sloppily grinding and kissing as Hunk's fingers methodically worked over tight muscles in Keith's body. Far too soon Lance broke the kiss, lips swollen and spit slicked with a dark flush over his face; Keith assumed he didn't look any different.

"Now," Lance purred, reaching behind him, "I believe I told you last time that I'd get you so sloppy and wet you wouldn't remember your name? Well, no time like the present."

Keith blinked as he forced his mind to try and remember five ticks ago, much less a few days back. It was only as Lance began tugging down his pants that he realized that, somewhere between the grinding, Hunk had managed to undo the belt and zipper, his erection proudly tenting his briefs. He could only manage to begin to ask himself how he missed that happening before Lance began his descent, mouth nipping and sucking his way down Keith's body, leaving a light red trail every place he touched as clear markers for where he was headed. With the same boldness as last time he swallowed Keith's cock into his mouth, plush lips pressed thin around the girth. Keith groaned, fingers scraping against Lance's scalp lightly as he arched his body into the wet willing heat he provided. Behind him Hunk moved his hands back up to his chest, fingers lightly brushing over his nipples as he divided his attention between kissing his neck and palming at his chest. Through the onslaught of sensations, he heard the cap of the bottle click open, unintentionally tensing at the thought of someone, of _Lance_ , penetrating him. Hunk shushed him, stroking his hair as he peppered the side of his face with kisses; Lance pulled off, cheek resting against his thigh as he looked up at him.

"Hey," He said, nipping at his hip bone to get his attention, "It'll be alright. If you're not into it though, you gotta tell us; we'll stop right away. Okay?"

Keith nodded, inhaling deeply to steady himself; of course Lance and Hunk wouldn't let any harm come to him, not if he gave the word. Lance smiled, pulling back to drizzle a liberal amount of lube on his fingers before returning to take Keith's dick back into his mouth. Gradually he fell back under the heady influence of Lance and Hunk's combined efforts, small gasps and pants tumbling from his mouth unrestrained. As he felt a firm wet pressure circling his hole he struggled to remember why he was apprehensive in the first place; at the moment he welcomed the sensation, craved it even. He tossed his head back into Hunk's shoulder, a loud drawn-out moan leaving his lips as Lance pressed inside.

"You okay there Keith," Hunk breathed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Keith nodded, breath coming dizzyingly quick as he felt the finger inside him move. It didn't hurt, the copious amounts of lube Lance had used making sure of that, but the slow increase and decrease of pressure as Lance carefully thrust in and out had his body singing for more.

"Y…Ye _ah_ …" He groaned, hands tightly balling up the fabric of Hunk's pants. The sensation of Lance's tongue laving attention on his achingly hard cock while something gently ghosted over his overly sensitive walls was one that Keith had trouble comprehending, much less explain. What he did know was that if Lance took him in his throat it would all be over embarrassingly quick; his seed would be painting the back of the Blue Paladin's throat before he would even realize it. Keith tried to bring his breathing back to a semblance of normal as he tried to stave off his inevitable orgasm. Gradually he returned to the slow heavy panting from before, though the moans hadn't decreased in volume since Lance had begun. For a moment he thought he would be able to last, that he'd be able to take more of whatever they could dish out, and then Lance inserted a second finger and he felt himself teetering dangerously close to the edge, a keening cry of his name leaving his lips. There was a slight burn this time as the two fingers stretched him, but having two meant that the pleasure from before had intensified into a feeling that had Keith desperately spreading his legs for more.

"Wow…" Hunk breathed with a reverence that was usually reserved for religious figures, "Just look at you. We thought you might enjoy it, but this? Like looking at someone's wet dream."

Keith wasn't sure what his response was as Lance decided to crook his fingers at that moment to brush against his prostate. To his ears it sounded like a garbled pitiful plea for more; luckily it seemed to sound the same to Lance as he fumbled with the dental dam package, fingers never ceasing their tender assault on his spot. Keith shivered as the sound of foil tearing echoed in the room like a thunderclap, followed by the smooth cool feeling of something similar to latex against his hole. Lance pulled off his dick and out of his ass painfully slow, continuing his sucks and licks down the crease of Keith's thigh as he readjusted his hold, nuzzling the smooth skin after he had marred it. Teasingly he began to kiss and lick circles around his rim, moving inwards at a snail's pace that had Keith writhing on the edge of anticipation. He whined low in his throat, inching down Hunk's body in an attempt to shove Lance where he truly wanted him, but found his progress halted by the firm hands spreading his cheeks. His complaint died in his throat as he felt smooth Altean latex being rolled onto his weeping erection before it was engulfed in a soft but tight grip. He forced his eyes to unroll from the back of his head to see what was responsible for stroking his dick with the perfect amount of pressure and speed. For a moment he believed he had somehow fallen asleep or died because in his opinion there was no way that the sight that greeted him was his current reality. There, standing proud above Lance's head buried between his thighs, was his cock being cradled by the calloused and battle-worn hands of Hunk. What's more is that Hunk had been right; he really did just want to fuck into his hand like it was the universe's best fleshlight. He made sure to express that desire in the form of nuzzling and moaning into the side of Hunk's neck, eliciting a soft chuckle from the two boys pleasuring him.

"Feels good right," Lance purred before licking a stripe from the base of his rim to just underneath his balls. "Almost makes up for the fact that he makes you wear a condom while he does it."

"Yeah well, you know I hate having to clean cum off my hands," Hunk shuddered beneath Keith, his hand faltering for a moment in its movements. "It's so _slimy_."

"True, but I can't lick it up when you're done this way!"

Keith's breathing hitched as his mind helpfully supplied a visual image of Lance staring up at him and Hunk from under hooded blue eyes, tongue darting out to taste a dollop of creamy white on thick dark fingers before allowing the tip to pass through his lips. He could almost _hear_ the appreciate groan as those dark blues fluttered closed, mouth sinking deeper on the digit; could almost hear the wet squelch as he bobbed.

"Lance, that is disgusting," Hunk's voice broke through, the fantasy dissolving in a puff of smoke. Lance looked up at Keith contemplatively, assessing his features and seeming to search for something; a mischievous smirk slowly appeared on his face.

"Well, Keith seemed to like the idea."

Keith choked on his denial and air as Lance dove back in, tongue breaching the muscles of his rim and massaging his inner walls. Even in the delirious frenzy Lance had sent him into, Keith could tell Hunk was thinking about the revelation. It was obvious in how the strokes became slow and thoughtful, how he pulled back just slightly to rest more against the wall, how his other hand came up to idly stroke at his left nipple.

"Really," Hunk hummed, nosing right underneath Keith's ear. "I guess I should've assumed; given how you couldn't take your eyes off Lance sucking your dick and practically begged to come down his throat."

"I…th-that's not… _fu_ …" Keith keened, reaching back to tangle his fingers in Hunk's hair as the Yellow Paladin nipped at his lobe while pinching his nipple. Hunk shushed him, returning to leisurely stroking his body as he suckled lightly at the bite he gave.

"No need to be shy, everyone's got something. For example, Lance? He secretly _loves_ being dominated."

Keith shivered as he felt Lance whine against him, nose pressing into the seam of his ass as he tongued him with the intensity of a starving man. Apparently just mentioning his kink was enough to send him into a lustful frenzy. Hunk chuckled, resting his chin on Keith's shoulder as he looked down at Lance.

"What? I feel like Keith should know how much you'd love to be tied down and used. How happy you'd be being fed his dick, painted in cum."

Keith couldn't have stopped the images from flashing before his eyes even if he tried. Lance, hands cuffed over his head, small tears in the corner of his eyes as his lips were spread around his girth. Lance, hands tied behind his back as he knelt in front of him, mouth wide open and tongue hanging out to catch every drop of cum that dripped from his slit, face streaked with what he failed to catch. Lance being held down, back in a perfect arch and face the epitome of being fucked out of his mind, body covered in bite marks and hickeys, stomach covered in his own cum from previous orgasms as Keith mercilessly pounded him with the hopes of smearing their combined cum into his skin. As his fantasy self pulled out to mix their semen together Keith released into the condom with a shout, head tilted back so that it rested on Hunk's shoulder. He panted, slowly coming down from the high, unaware that Lance and Hunk had become deathly silent.

"Well…" Hunk's vocal crack had Keith wincing and Hunk clearing his throat as he spoke up again. "Well, I uh…guess we can put Keith down for dirty talk."

Keith cracked his eye open to look at Lance, who was absentmindedly nodding along as he stared at Keith with wide eyes, "Yeah…I'm gonna…gonna just…yeah…"

With that stunning display of eloquence Lance pushed off the bed, gait unsteady and uncomfortable with the obvious tent in his pants. Hunk and Keith watched as he shook his head a few times as if trying to clear it, running right into the wall next to the bathroom door before practically falling into the room.

"I think you fried his brain dude."

Keith snorted, settling himself in Hunk's embrace after removing the condom, "There has to be something to fry first."

"Okay no see, that's just mean. Try again."

"Fine," Keith sighed, rolling his eyes, "If I did fry his brain, it's only cuz of you."

Hunk shrugged, opting out of arguing the finer points of who was responsible for frying Lance's brain in favor of adjusting his hands so that one rested in Keith's hair. Keith's eyes slid shut as Hunk resumed his earlier petting, fingers working out tangles and tension with the barest amount of pressure. As he lay there listening to the steady beat of Hunk's heart, wrapped in a warmth and of safety that only he could offer, Keith felt a compulsion to tell him what was on his mind that he'd only felt with Shiro. It wasn't that Hunk was acting as a replacement confidant in Shiro's absence; in Keith's heart, no one could replace the man who had given his everything to ensure Keith's comfort and happiness. But it was the lack of this shared past plus their recent encounters both in and outside the bedroom that allowed him to feel that perhaps he could share his thoughts on his discussion with Allura without the intense fear of disappointing or driving Hunk away that was always there in the back of his mind when he confided in Shiro. It was still there but quieter, soothed into an irritating itch in the back of his throat by the languid strokes of Hunk's fingers in his hair instead of the chokehold it usually held. Irrational perhaps but, when one has been rejected their entire lives for far less, it becomes a trained expectation akin to an instinctual drive. Shifting himself, Keith ignored the alarms going off in his mind and pushed the words out of his mouth.

"Allura told me Lane should pilot Red," Now that he had begun the words rushed forward, unrestrained like a waterfall. "And it's not…it's not like I don't think he _can_ , but I just, I know how much Blue means to him, a-and she didn't even _ask_ him how he felt about it, she just kinda ordered me to do it! I want to _minimize_ the damage done by Shiro being gone, not exacerbate by forcing people to do things."

"If someone has to suffer, you'd rather take it all on yourself huh?"

The tension that had begun to gather disappeared; of course Hunk would understand, "Yes, exactly!"

Hunk hummed, the other fingers of his hand tapping against Keith's hip, "That's kinda selfish, don't you think? I mean you haven't even asked how Lance feels about it; aren't you doing the same as Allura?"

Keith's heart sank at his words; he should've listened to his instincts and kept quiet. Now Hunk would see him differently, see him as untouchable and cold like Allura, would only offer the polite common courtesy instead of comradery. As he shifted to make an escape with a pathetic excuse, he found he couldn't; Hunk's arm had tightened around his waist, trapping him to his body.

Hunk continued, other hand still idly stroking his head, "Your heart's in the right place, don't get me wrong; we want as many people on the team to be emotionally functional as possible," Hunk looked down, brown eyes soft with the glimmer of tenderness directed towards him. "But don't you think it's better to have five kinda compromised people who can lean on each other instead of four people who are kinda alright and one persona crumbling under the weight of the universe?"

A specific corner of the bed was suddenly _very_ interesting, so Keith dedicated himself to studying it as he spoke. "But what if it all goes wrong? What if we still can't form Voltron or, or we can but Red and Lance end up hating each other and that, you know, just makes everything worse?"

"I'm gonna be honest with you Keith, no matter _what_ decision is made, Lance is probably gonna have an issue with it. He's got his own personal problems and, no matter what happens, he's probably going to be upset; heck, he'll probably fight you about it. But protecting Lance from his own issues shouldn't be and isn't your responsibility. Your job is just…helping him through it if it shows up. Isn't that right Lance?"

The bathroom door opened to reveal Lance blinking wildly, face flushing at having been caught, "How the Hellsinki..."

"Dude, you're looking at an eavesdropping _champ_. I've got a sixth sense of this kind of stuff."

Shrugging in concession Lance approached the bed, flopping down on the edge, "Anyway, Hunk's right. As much as I appreciate your grand gesture of allowing the universe to be destroyed just to keep me happy, I'm kinda thinking I'd be happier with, you know, an intact universe? Which we kinda need Voltron for."

The idea of Lance piloting the Red Lion still doesn't sit well with him, but hearing his opinion on the matter assuaged most of the unpleasantness from earlier. There was still the matter of if the Red Lion would even allow Lance into her cockpit, but that could be solved at a later date with some cajoling from Keith. For now, he would sink deeper into Hunk's embrace, body going lax as the stress from his earlier argument with Allura melted away.

The bed shifted, Lance curling up under Hunk's chin and moving Keith to just underneath his chin, "Mullet here has the right idea; forget the serious stuff, and let's take a nap."

Hunk shifted, pulling a book from underneath his pillow, "Actually, I was gonna read up on Altean engineering for a bit." Hunk wrapped his other arm around Lance, the book in the center with Lance in the crook of his right arm and Keith in the crook of his left, "But feel free to fall asleep here."

Lance reaches up, a soft murmur of 'nerd' being heard as he lightly tapped Hunk's cheek with his knuckles before returning to his previous position; Hunk chuckled, opening the book to where he had left off. Cocooned in the warmth of their embrace with gentle breathing, steady heartbeats, and the occasional page flip acting his lullaby, Keith found himself sinking into a deep sleep. His last conscious thought filled him with a hope that had been sorely lacking since Shiro disappeared; perhaps they could do this. Perhaps, everything would turn out okay in the end.

* * *

 **A/N: As you can probably tell, I have never given or received a rim job, nor do I really enjoy performing or receiving anal fingering. Also idk how it got so fluffy there, that's a mystery to me too. Reviews are appreciated obviously.**


	3. Accept Your Situation

The inside of each Lion's cockpit, Keith noticed, had a distinct impression and smell that seemed associated with its element. When they had entered the Blue Lion for the first time so long ago there was a scent of sea salt so strong one almost expected to hear the crash of waves and feel the spray of the ocean. When he had piloted the Black Lion to save Shiro from the monsters they encountered after saving Allura, he felt as if he was standing at the peak of a mountain breathing in the crisp cool air. When he entered the Yellow Lion to collect Scaltrite from the Weblum the smell of fresh earth permeated the cockpit, as if one was standing in the middle of a freshly plowed field rather than sitting at the helm of a sentient machine. While he hadn't had the chance to sit in the Green Lion's cockpit, Keith could only assume that it would smell so heavily of a jungle that he'd expect to hear the trill of tropical birds. However, as soothing and enticing as each of the others' cockpits were, none could compare to the sensations the Red Lion provided him.

After their mission to the Blade of Marmora and the discovery of Keith's heritage, Shiro had pulled him aside to ask if the Red Lion's cockpit always had such an oppressive heat to it. Keith had stared at Shiro, head cocked to the side as he asked him what he was talking about. Whenever Keith entered her cockpit he never felt an overbearing heat like the desert as Shiro had described, but an all-encompassing gentle warmth similar to that of sitting at the hearth of a fireplace. If he stayed still, closed his eyes and focused, he could hear the crackling of logs, smell the smoke as it wafted up the chimney, see the faint glowing of embers and the flash of dancing sparks. Perhaps in the midst of battle it felt like he was standing in the heart of a newborn star; he always seemed to come out of battles sweatier than his fellow paladins. But when going through trainings, or sitting in the hangar just talking to each other as he was doing now? The warmth was as soft as that emanated during a hug from a loved one.

"And I just…I don't know what to do. I mean I know what I _should_ do; pilot the Black Lion like Shiro wanted and let someone else pilot you. But if I do that then does that mean I've accepted he's gone? Will people start to forget about him? Will…Will _I_ start to forget about him," Keith's gaze was fixed on the roof of the cockpit, feeling exhausted as the heavy weight of keeping his thoughts bottled up released, like a cork being shot from a bottle of champagne shaken for too long. After apologizing to Allura Keith had decided to catch the Red Lion up on all that was happening; their communications during the few missions they had together had been curt and short as he avoided talking about his feelings. It wasn't that he had wanted to actively keep her out of his mind, but rather that he wasn't ready to face himself and whatever her decisions on the matter would be. Of course there were some things he tried to keep secret, namely the activities going on between him, Lance, and Hunk behind closed doors; the last thing he needed was a lecture on proper sexual protocol between paladins from a magical robot lion.

A soothing rumble was heard through their mental connection as the Red Lion forced herself to transition from impressions and feelings, usually enough in the middle of a fight, to words that could be easily understood, _"You know as well as I do that Black's Paladin will never be forgotten. In time, you will not think of him as frequently or with as much sorrow, but instead with fondness and love. We Lions of Voltron never forget our Paladins, so take comfort in that for as long as we live, so shall Shiro."_

Keith hummed, a noncommittal sound to prove that he heard her. He knew she was right; while he and the others would grieve, eventually they would look on Shiro's memory with fondness instead of profound sorrow. Occasionally he would find it happening even now, usually during some nonsensical activity that someone instigated or the private moments that Lance and Hunk offered to him. He would find himself smiling, laughing, the dark cloud of Shiro's disappearance dissipating enough to allow a few rays of sunshine into their otherwise bleak situation. But then the clouds would return, accusations of forgetting his closest companion booming like thunder and striking like lightning, and he'd find himself angry at himself for accepting that Shiro was gone, for moving forward instead of digging in his heels and fighting to return everything back to the way it was supposed to be.

" _You are still troubled."_

His closed fist hit the armrest with a hard thud, "Of course I'm still troubled! Just as I was adjusting to, to _everything_ , something comes along and screws it up like always! It's either 'Let's move you to a different home' or, 'We're gonna ask you to leave instead of helping you', or getting launched into space or being Galra, or…or all of this _bullshit_ with Shiro!"

Chest heaving, he stared down into his lap, nails digging into the armrest, "Every time…every _single_ time I find some sort of stability, something comes along and just rips it apart! And every time I'm left trying to pick up the pieces as best as I can and make sense of what just happened, and it never works in my favor. Whenever that stupid case worker moved me to a new home, I'd act out or keep to myself. When Shiro disappeared the first time I punched a commanding officer in the face. When we all came out here, I was reckless; I almost got us killed Red! I just…." He brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "I just want everything to stay _still_. I want everything to stop just long enough for me to get myself together so that I don't end up killing someone instead of protecting them."

The only sound in the cockpit were Keith's heavy pants; even the constant hum in their mental connection had silenced sometime during his rant. As the silence bordered on oppressive her rumble began once again, voice soft as if she were talking to an upset child, _"This universe is eternally dynamic, forever changing in ways that you cannot imagine or see until they have happened. Even you, who detests change, have become so much more than what they were when they first arrived. Wouldn't you agree, Little One?"_

Keith bit his lip, head still bowed, "I…yeah, I would."

" _To fear change is to fear progress, the future, life itself,"_ the Red Lion continued, _"That is not to say that it is not frightening; on the contrary, it is a terrifying concept. But it is true courage and bravery to charge forward and adapt to whatever life holds for you. And for my Paladins, it means to listen to their instincts, and go wherever they may lead them."_

"Am…" Keith ran a hand through his hair, "Am I still your Paladin? Even if I pilot the Black Lion?"

" _Oh Little One,"_ The sound of the Red Lion's voice evoked a sense of being embraced, tucked beneath a mother's chin as she hid him from the world. _"You will_ _ **always**_ _be mine, no matter who you pilot. While I will miss you terrible when you are with Black, know that there is nothing that makes me prouder than knowing our leader has chosen_ _ **you**_ _, my precious Paladin."_

Despite the stinging in his eyes and the sniffling, Keith found himself smiling as the Red Lion's emotions coursed through him. He rubbed at his eyes, uncurling himself so that his feet rested against the floor, "Thanks. So I guess this means you'll be alright with having a new pilot, huh?"

The self-satisfied purr could almost be mistaken for smugness if one wasn't familiar with the Red Lion's nature, _"I already have one in mind. I would like the Blue One to be my new pilot."_

Keith raised his eyebrows, blinking in surprise, "Lance? Really?"

" _Of course! He is instinctive and brave in his own way. For example, when he proposed to the Yellow One to bring you back from your despair, despite fearing your reaction. It was an impressive feat of listening to instincts if I do say so myself."_

"Y-You…" Keith didn't need a mirror to know his face was a bright red. "H-How did you know about that? I kept that secret!"

The Red Lion's rumbles rose and fell choppily in an imitation of a laugh, _"There are no secrets between a Lion and her Paladin._ _ **Or**_ _a Lion and her pack."_

His stomach dropped at the realization. "Y-You mean…"

" _Oh yes,"_ If he concentrated hard enough Keith could almost see the flick of the tip of a tail and a glint of sharp teeth exposed by a smile, _"Blue was quite proud of her Little One for how well his plan worked. She wouldn't stop crowing to me about it for almost seven quintants."_

Keith's blood boiled with embarrassed rage as he glared out the cockpit window, "I don't know how, but I'm going to kill the Blue Lion."

The Red Lion's rumbling laugh echoed in his mind, _"Don't say such things, Little One, else you risk making the Blue One upset. Unless of course, it is part of your plan to return the favor?"_

Surprisingly, despite his volume, no one else in the castle heard Keith's indignant shouting at the Red Lion's teasing from inside the cockpit.

* * *

A varga later Keith could still hear the echo of the Red Lion's amusement at his ranting about privacy, boundaries, and how _yes we still have those you nosey overgrown cat, I don't care if we're basically one being!_ While he could admit that perhaps it was a bit of a stretch to assume he could injure, much less murder, the Blue Lion, he could certainly teach her Paladin the lesson in her stead. With this thought in mind Keith stormed the halls, making a beeline for Lance's room and hoping that he was there so that he could skip having to enter more public areas of the ship with a beet red face and murder in his eyes while asking for the whereabouts of the Blue Paladin. Fortunately, as he approached the door he could hear Lance's muffled voice; after a tick, he heard Hunk's chime in as well. Good, Keith thought as he opened the door, Hunk will either be a mediator or help him destroy the body.

Despite his personality Lance's room was meticulously clean, the only item out of place being the pillow on the floor. Hunk sat on the floor across from Lance on the bed, back pressed against a drawer where all of Lance's skin care products lined the top. In Hunk's hands was a visor that he and Pidge had begun fitting with translating technology so that the Paladins could read the books and magazines that they accumulated during their travels. Lance sat cross-legged on the bed, hand lazily waving in circles as he rested his chin in his palm.

"So long story short, Coran, Pidge, and I are local deities to the Falrutians because we can see the color purple, and apparently Alteans can see more colors than the mantis shrimp."

Hunk hummed, lifting the visor up to get a better view, "Space is weird man."

" _ **You."**_

Lance jumped with a startled yelp, slamming his head into the ceiling above his bed; he fell to the side, clutching the top of his head and groaning pitifully. Hunk threw the visor into the air as he leapt from the chair, pulling his fists up with a battle cry as he searched for the danger. The brave warrior image was destroyed however as he flinched and ducked under his arms when the visor crashed into the ceiling, sending various parts raining down upon them. If he hadn't come to smack sense into Lance, Keith would have been both parts exasperated and amused at their reactions; as it was, he stood there with arms crossed and waited for them to calm.

Lance was the first to speak as Hunk whined about his gadget, picking up the scattered pieces, "Dude, a little warning next time?"

"When I'm through with you there won't _be_ a next time."

"What? I haven't done anything recently to deserve this treatment!"

"You forgot to tell the Blue Lion that secrets are supposed to be _secret_!"

Keith's shout seemed to echo in the deadly silent room, as Hunk had stopped gathering parts to watch the exchange. Lance's face paled considerably at the statement, face the epitome of a man who had been caught with multiple tabs of embarrassingly specific kink porn opened on his browser. A quiet voice in the back of Keith's mind whispered that the Red Lion knowing about them most likely wouldn't elicit a reaction like that from him; he filed that away under things to investigate later. Right now, he had to teach Lance the meaning of the words privacy, boundaries, and secrets so that he could teach the Blue Lion.

Lance tugged at the collar of his shirt, eyes darting around the room, "What uh…what exactly did you hear," Lance seemed to be choosing his words carefully, as if he were navigating a minefield and one wrong step would cause an explosion that would what lay underneath. "Cuz there is some sensitive stuff that I _specifically_ told her not to tell _anyone_ , and if she blabbed then I will gladly kick her butt myself."

He could feel the anger ebbing away at Lance's behavior; perhaps the Blue Lion was just a nosey gossip who didn't care about boundaries until they had overstepped them. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, as the mice, Allura, and Hunk had all done the same at one point or another. Plus, given the nonchalance that the Red Lion had shown, maybe the Blue Lion just didn't view it as something to be secret; perhaps Alteans were once a polyamorous species. These comforting thoughts had Keith uncrossing his arms, shoulders relaxing, "She blabbed about what we all do together."

To his surprise and annoyance Lance snorted, waving his hand dismissively, "Oh that? That's hardly anything to freak out about. You had me thinking it was something important."

"Wha-It's important when Red teases me about it!"

"Oh man, are we gonna get eaten by the Red Lion now," Hunk whimpered, wringing his hands nervously. "Because real talk, I kinda like living and, you know, not being digested by a sentient robotic cat?"

"Dude didn't you hear him? She teased him about us; we're Red Lion approved buddy! That's like, the approval of at least fifty Tiger Moms back home."

The thin thread holding back Keith's embarrassment and annoyance snapped, "Will you _focus_?"

Lance and Hunk snapped to attention, expressions displaying surprise and concern at his outburst. He knew that they were taking in his flushed cheeks, eyes glinting dangerously as his hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched. It wasn't that he was upset about the Red Lion knowing; if anything that made his life easier, as he didn't have to hide anything from her anymore or instruct Lance to hide things from her when he piloted her. It wasn't even that he feared the Blue Lion would talk with Allura and cause a rift between them and the princess; he fully believed the Blue Lion could keep a secret if she thought it could do harm to her Paladin. He could rationalize that the Blue Lion only told the Red Lion because she believed that both parties should be informed of what transpired between their Paladins. No, what was bothering him now was the lack of apology and amends he was getting from Lance, who treated this breach in confidence as if it were nothing.

Lance sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Hey look, I'm sorry that Blue has looser lips than Hunk," An indignant huff from the Yellow Paladin was ignored, "But, I know just what'll cheer you up."

"If the next words out of your mouth are an innuendo, I'm cutting your dick off."

Lance's gulp was audible as he raised his hands in defense, "Okay, little kinkier than I was expecting, but you know what? We can work with this. I mean, we have alien technology at our fingertips! I could get a vibrating robo di- _yah_!"

As soon as he had begun rambling Keith stalked towards the bed, leaning down to pick up the pillow from the floor. When he was in range Keith slammed the pillow into the side of Lance's head, knocking the Blue Paladin off balance onto his side. Keith continued the assault with his fluffy weapon, climbing into the bed and turning the teen onto his back so that he could continue to slap his head. Lance held his arms up to block the blows, shouting and yelling as he tried to throw Keith off.

"Gah! C'mon man, not the face! Hunk, help!"

Hunk took one look at the scene, saw the murderous promises in Keith's eyes, and promptly turned back to his work, "Nah man, you got yourself into this, you can get out of it."

Lance was about to retort but instead found his mouth full of fabric and alien feathers as Keith landed a solid hit. Despite his best efforts to toss Keith off, Keith had straddled him so that his movements only served to tire him out instead of succeeding. Lance seemed to realize this as he then began to grapple with Keith's wrists, trying to his fingers off the pillow so that he could toss it to the side. Keith huffed, one hand letting go of the pillow so that he could pin Lance's hands above his head; immediately Lance bit into the pillow, ripping it out of Keith's other hand and spitting it onto the floor.

"Alright alright, you've made your point," Lance huffed, pouting as he looked up at Keith, "So, what does the conqueror want? Money? Fame," A dangerous glint appeared in Lance's eyes as he smirked up at Keith, "…Me?"

Keith freezes at the suggestion, cheeks flushing a dark red at the thought of Lance under him, incoherent with pleasure, lithe body flushed and writhing as he begs for more. Or of Lance crawling over him as he lay in Hunk's lap, bottom lip caught between pearly white teeth as he sinks down onto his length, tan cock bouncing along to the rhythm he sets as he whines high in his throat. Slowly the fantasy Lance merges with the one in reality, lips quirking into a smirk as his lips brush against his ear.

"Oh, you like that one," He breathes; Keith shivers at the heat against the shell of his ear. "Having me at your mercy, letting you have your wicked, _wicked_ way? Maybe even play out a fantasy or two?"

A loud groan and a kiss that instantly turns wet and desperate are his only response as Keith pushes him back into the mattress, hand roaming down his body while he uses the other keep Lance's arms above his head. He blamed this sudden desire to take charge on the embarrassment from the Red Lion's goading earlier and Lance's own nonchalance about the entire issue. It had nothing to do with how he seemed to notice just how attractive Lance and Hunk were, or how lately even Lance and Hunk's less than positive qualities seemed to have become endearing, or even how he enjoyed being in their company more than usual. Nope, he thought as he wedged his thigh between Lance's legs and ground upwards, it was totally just getting payback about this breach in confidence.

A sudden harsh sneeze coming from the other side of the room had Keith ripping away from Lance's mouth as if he'd been burned. As he took in the sight of Lance's flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and dazed expression, it took every ounce of Keith's willpower to pull away and sit up on the other side of the bed. He looked over to see Hunk wiping his nose on his sleeve, back once again pressed against the dresser as he continued to fiddle with visor in his hand. A pang of guilt ran through him at the sight; how could he have gotten so absorbed in himself to forget to ask Hunk? As if sensing his distress Hunk looked up, a soft smile on his face.

"Don't stop on my account," He waved his hand dismissively as he turned back to the visor. Keith swallowed, feeling Lance press against his back as his hands wandered down his chest towards his belt.

"You…you sure," It was getting harder to focus with Lance teasingly fiddling with his belt as he pressed wet kisses to the side of his neck. Hunk nodded, completely uninterested in the display going on before him.

"Yup," He waved his screwdriver idly, "No offense, but I'm not a spontaneous guy. Gotta give me at least a couple hours to get into the right mindset, and even then it's totally dependent on if I've done anything recently."

Keith's breathing hitched as he felt Lance's hand dart underneath his boxers to firmly grasp his length, "Still…y-you were here first. It…it feels weird, kicking you out."

He tapped the end of the screwdriver against his lips, staring up at the ceiling in thought, "Well…I mean, I don't _have_ to leave if you don't want me to. I could always just, you know…watch or something."

Keith shudders, imagination going into hyper drive at Hunk's simple suggestion as Lance lazily strokes him. Hunk continuing his work, looking up occasionally to watch them as if they were just a television playing in the background that happened to have something interesting happening. Or of Hunk dropping his work, head resting in his hands as he watches intently, sometimes speaking up with tips to send the other into a frenzy or just to give mindless praise to how well they were doing. He groaned as his head tipped back against Lance's shoulder, imaging Hunk getting up from his seat to stalk towards them, like a lion who knows it has its prey cornered. He felt as Hunk grasped his chin, brown eyes meeting his as he told him how he had to be punished for not following his instructions to the letter but not to worry, it would all be worth it.

Lance nipped at his earlobe, thumb rubbing circles against his tip, "You like that idea? Have Hunk watch you pound me into the mattress?"

Not trusting his voice Keith nodded vigorously, grinding back to feel Lance's hard cock through his jeans. Lance's other hand pressed gently on his cheek, coaxing his head to turn so that they could lock lips over his shoulder. It was messy and uncoordinated, teeth clacking together and drool sliding from the corner of their mouths, but with Lance pushing into him from the back and tugging him in the front Keith couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be. Far too soon Lance pulled away; Keith didn't realize he was chasing the taste of Lance's tongue until he was being pushed back and turned around. He forced himself to blink away the lustful haze, finally registering that somewhere between the talk with Hunk and now Lance had removed his shirt to expose his torso, skin the shade of caramel and looking every bit as delectable. He wondered if it would taste sweet with a hint of salt, like a salted caramel candy, if he dragged his tongue from the waistband of his jeans to just under his jaw. An open-mouthed kiss underneath his ear dragged Keith out of his musings long enough to realize that Lance had entered his personal space, hands slipping into his boxers and under his shirt.

"Don't tell me that whatever scenario you thought up was enough to make you so submissive," Lance's voice was a husky purr against his ear, his hand pushing up the material of Keith's shirt. "And here I was looking forward to bottoming for you."

Right, this had begun because Keith wanted to fulfill some fantasies involving an incoherent Lance and that tantalizing skin being painted a pearly white as some sort of perverted reminder to keep secrets a secret. He hadn't thought that there'd be conflicting fantasies of being dominated under Hunk's watchful eye, but somehow his mind had become a hot bed of filthy desires that left him torn between pushing Lance into the mattress or getting shoved onto his back. Lance seemed to understand that he was having difficulty reconciling the differences, taking it upon himself to coax Keith's arms above his head to remove the black shirt as a method of urging him back into action. Or so Keith had thought; as soon as the shirt was tossed to the floor Lance was back on him, mouth relentlessly biting and sucking a myriad of marks onto his chest. The pain and pleasure shot straight to his groin where Lance's hand was still fisting his cock, pre-cum smearing whenever he passed over his slit. So lost in a cloud of desire it was impressive that Keith had enough sense of mind to tangle his hands into Lance's hair, pressing that torturous mouth closer to his trembling body. He can feel Lance begin an agonizingly slow descent, mouth continuing its assault on every inch of skin in its warpath. Looking down he groans as he realizes that the marks will form a bright red trail leading down to his cock; a trail that only he will know exists, and will be made painfully aware of every time he looks in the mirror or down his body. After what feels like a miniscule eternity of having attention lavished everywhere but the place he wants it most Lance takes pity, pushing his pants and boxers just far down enough to allow his dick to spring out.

"Make sure to be vocal," Lance winked, licking a long stripe from the base of his cock to the tip, "Wanna hear every dirty thought that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours."

With that Lance sank down; Keith moaned unabashedly, fingernails scraping against Lance's scalp in his rush to anchor himself to this plane of existence. Lance groaned, the vibrations traveling wherever his lips touched and only ceasing when the tip sunk into the back of his throat. Keith's mind was effectively scrambled, anything that wasn't the sensation of that tight wet heat and the knowledge that Hunk was idly watching them fading to nothing but white noise in the background. His chin dropped to his chest, allowing him to stare into the dark lusty blues staring back into his; distantly he remembered Lance's order to be vocal.

"Ah shit Lance," Keith hissed, pale fingers carding through the mop of brown hair, "S-So good…c-could watch you sucking cock all day."

Lance pulled off, hand slowly pumping as he nuzzled the plush glans, "Maybe one day I'll lock us up and do just that. Just let you watch as I get you hard, suck you dry, and do it all over again."

Keith's dick twitched at the notion, drooling at the mental image of his hands bound above his head with Lance between his spread legs. Lance purred, lapping up the liquid like a kitten would drink spilled milk. "Aw, you like that idea? Have you at my mercy for one big continuous blowjob?"

 _Yes_ , he decided, he _did_ like that idea, but he also decided that Lance talking about it wasn't fulfilling his current needs, namely the need to be buried to the hilt inside Lance in some way. With that thought in mind Keith pushed him down into the mattress, shuffling out of his clothes and toeing them off the side of the bed. As he straddled Lance's narrow hips he leaned down to connect their mouths, tongue slipping through the parting that Lance provided in search of a mate to play with. He groaned when they finally made contact, wet muscle immediately stroking Lance the way he had learned from their previous encounters would elicit the best reactions. Right on cue the Blue Paladin whimpered and moaned beneath him, long fingers tangling in black hair as he thrust his hips upwards in search of the friction that would bring him sweet relief.

As the cool metal of Lance's button dug into his inner thigh Keith paused as realization dawned on him. In all of their encounters _Lance_ had always been the one to remove his clothes, and always managed to keep at least his boxers on. But for this to proceed how he wanted it to he'd most likely have to be the one to strip Lance of the last vestiges of clothing and, more importantly, he'd have to see Lance _naked_ for the first time since beginning these trysts. Not that he didn't want to see that lean body with skin the color of some overpriced latte spread bare for his perusal; no, that scenario had already been the plot of too many embarrassing late night fantasies. What had Keith pulling back to stare down at the boy underneath him was the nagging thought that if Lance had _wanted_ Keith to see him naked then he would have already seen it, most likely accompanied by a cringe worthy pick-up line. But he hadn't, which led him to worry that perhaps he was abusing the power of his position in the team and this agreement, that maybe Lance was only a fan of sloppy oral and hand jobs; or that perhaps that Hunk and Lance had an agreement where neither would ever get naked. A gentle caress to his cheek pulled him from his thoughts to focus on the boy staring up at him.

"Come on now mullet, don't be shy," Lance grinned, eyebrows waggling, "Don't you wanna McClaim Lance McClain?"

Keith groaned, dropping his head to Lance's shoulder; leave it to him to make a puddle out to be deeper than the ocean, "That was terrible and you should feel terrible."

"Lance we had an _agreement_ ," Hunk whined, hands dropping into his lap, "You _promised_ me that you would never use that line again!"

"Yeah well Keith started getting all frowny on me, and I'd rather have him lose a boner from laughing his ass off than being upset. Also can you toss us the lube and condoms? Top drawer to the left."

As Hunk gently set the visor down before getting up on his knees to search, Keith lifted his head to look down at Lance, "That wasn't even funny, it was just… _bad_ ," A hint of disbelief crept into his voice, "Who in the universe thought that was funny?"

Lance shrugged, "Apparently some guy at the Garrison. Dude thought it was so funny he couldn't look at me for like a week without giggling; confused the hell out of his friends."

"I remember that guy," Hunk turned, handing the requested items to Lance. "One time you did that thing with your eyebrows, and then he started laughing so hard that he walked into a wall. Which made him laugh even _harder_ , surprisingly."

"They may have been few and far between, but we had some good times at the Garrison," Lance chirped, setting the lube and condom down in the upper left corner of the bed. He twisted back to lay flat against the bed, arms looping back around Keith's neck, "Now, we gonna keep going or what?"

The worries from before came back with a vengeance, forcing Keith to divert his gaze away from Lance, "You're sure about this? We don't have to if you don't want to you know."

Lance's head cocked to the side, confusion clear as day on his face. Understandable, since before now Keith had always gone forward with whatever direction they were going in without questioning them, "Uh yeah? If I didn't want this, you really think you'd be sitting on top of my dick right now?"

Fair point, Keith conceded with a shrug, "Maybe? Just, never gone this far before, and-"

Lance held his hand up, silencing Keith, "Say no more! Duh, first timer's nerves, how could I forget that…" Lance muttered to himself, propping himself up onto his elbows. The scheming glint in his eyes and the smile on his face promised a sensual solution to the problem they were currently facing, "You just sit back, relax, and let me put on a pretty little show for you."

Keith nodded dumbly, pushing himself back to sit between Lance's legs instead. As soon as he had Lance shifted, laying back as his right hand ran up his body, starting at the waistband of his jeans, creeping through the sparse trail of hairs leading into his pants, all the way up his long torso and lean neck before traveling back down. All of Keith's attention was focused on the soft sighs and gasps he made, eyes helplessly following the path his hand made continually up and down his body. A whine to match Lance's left him as he watched elegant fingers pop the button before teasingly dragging down the zipper of his fly, hips bucking into the air slightly at the relief from the pressure. After the zipper had been pulled down all the way he grasped the waistband of both his boxers and jeans, continuing to roll his hips as if he were grinding against someone in his lap. With each upward thrust he tugged his clothing downwards, giving a glimpse at slim hipbones and dark brown curls, only to give a small tug back up to hide the tantalizing sight once again; Keith's hands twitched at his sides, the urge to smack Lance's hands away and pull them down himself growing. As if sensing his growing desire Lance shot him a smirk before his hips arched completely off the bed, allowing the denim and cotton to slide down long lean legs and pool at his ankles.

Any functions that weren't drinking in the sight of Lance like he was a cool glass of water were instantly shut off as his cock was finally revealed. Much like its owner it was long and tan, curved towards Lance's chest with a girth that he could only assume was on the border of average. He watched as toned legs spread, displaying testicles drawn close to the base of his cock, drawing the eye to the dark brown twitchy hole nestled between pert cheeks. The sharp clicking sound of a plastic bottle lid opening was his only warning before clear liquid began to drip down his sac and coat his hole, a slender pointer finger chasing the trail to massage it into his rim and finger. Slowly the tip of the finger breached the tight ring of muscles; Keith grit his teeth, inhaling sharply as an accompaniment to Lance's breathy moan. Once he had been buried up to the second knuckle he slowly began to thrust, finger barely pulling out before sinking back in, taunting with how he inched towards sinking fully up the third knuckle. Keith could only imagine how tight it must be inside, how it'd be almost deliciously impossible to withdraw far enough to slam back home.

"God," Lance breathed, head lolling back onto the bed, "It's been too long."

Keith swallowed past the lump in his throat, unsure when his mouth became so dry, "Y-Yeah?"

"Don't me wrong, I- _ah_ ," Lance keened, second finger sliding in alongside the first, "I-I love getting my dick wet, but, _ah quiznak_ , b-but sometimes I wanna be the one getting pounded, ya know?"

"I think I'm starting to get the idea," Keith mumbled, transfixed with watching the two fingers flex and stretch the muscle wider, offering a fleeting glimpse of inside. It was interrupted as Lance shifted, the heels of his feet hovering over the sheets as he curled his lower back upwards. They both sucked in a breath as he poured lube directly into the space provided by his fingers, making sure to drench his ring finger in the process. Keith couldn't help but stare as that third finger began to disappear inch by glistening inch; he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when all three fingers were fully seated inside Lance's dripping asshole. A flick of the wrist had Lance writhing on the bed with a gasp, curved cock beginning a steady stream of pre-cum from its flushed head.

"Having fun Lance," Keith jerked his head to his right, heart stuttering at the sound of Hunk's voice from behind him. He could feel his face flush with arousal and embarrassment at having been caught staring entranced at Lance opening himself, despite agreeing to Hunk watching. Lance positioned his head to grin at Hunk, face flushed and pupils blown wide.

"Wh-What can I say, gotta, _uh_ , g-gotta make it a convincing show- _oh_!"

Hunk hummed, nodding as he pulled Keith flush against him, left arm wrapped around his waist as he reached forward to grab the condom and discarded lube. With the precision associated with an engineer working on a delicate project he tore open the foil, left hand moving to grasp him at the base as the right worked the condom over him. Once it was secure he pinched the tip, left hand smoothly rolling it down the throbbing flesh to meet the coarse black hair surrounding the base. Keith shivered as the lube was spread over the latex, the chilled liquid slow to warm as Hunk's hands worked him over to smear it evenly.

"Now, what you're gonna want to do is only get in there about halfway at first," Hunk muttered next to his ear, tone the same as if he were just casually explaining new mechanics for the castle instead of how to best fuck his best friend. Keith shuddered, the notion that they were failing to impress making him hotter and all the more determined to have himself and Lance fall apart at the seams. "You're also gonna want to angle yourself towards upwards, about twenty to thirty degrees, just to milk that prostate until he's delirious. Then, once he's out of his mind with pleasure, you just go to town. Think you can do that?"

Keith nodding, swallowing at the sudden increase of saliva in his mouth. Hunk smiled, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth before giving him a slight shove on the shoulder, "Go get 'im tiger."

The small shove had Keith falling onto his hands and knees, face so close to his rim that if he stuck his tongue out he'd be able to taste the Blue Paladin. Lance moved faster than his muscles at the moment, lower half lowering itself just enough for those long legs to wrap around his waist and pull him in deeper. They both groaned as Keith pressed against his hole, the length being teased by the movements of fingers relaxing tight muscles, massaging against that one spot that him leaking profusely on his stomach. He felt the fingers pull out in favor of spreading firm cheeks, and for a moment he could see the image in his mind; Lance, legs spread so beautifully wide, tight little hole dripping, twitching, and just begging to be filled by a cock. He groaned, lunging forward to bury his face into Lance's neck as he began to sink into that welcoming entrance.

Lance's hand flew to tangle into dark locks, pressing his face more into his neck as he gasped breathlessly, "J-Just…j-just like that, _yes_!"

Keith could hear Hunk shuffling off the bed; he looked up to see the Yellow Paladin crouched up at Lance's head, large hand stroking his brown hair, "You doing alright buddy?"

Lance whines, nodding enthusiastically as he slips his hand between their bodies to stroke his stiff dick; Hunk chuckles, continuing to pet his head as he gestures at Keith to continue. Keith drops his face back into the crook of his neck, allowing Lance and Hunk's unique musk mixed with the powerful smell of sex to drive out every thought that wasn't focused on driving Lance over the edge from his head. He pulls out slowly until the flared edges of his plush glans stop right at the edge of Lance's rim, as if they were threatening to leave the tight cavern he provided; Lance whines, clenching down on him to entice them to come back and stay. Keith moans deep in his throat, hips angling as per Hunk's suggestion before driving his length in a little over halfway in the hopes of hitting that pleasurable protrusion. While he thought he might have felt his tip brush over a slight bump, what truly gave his success away was how Lance's grip tightened in his hair as he groaned loudly, head tossed back into the pillows; Keith couldn't have helped the self-satisfied smirk at the sight even if he wanted to. Gradually he found the rhythm that had Lance writhing loudly beneath him, a shallow thrusting accompanied with a slow, dirty grind into that spot. Once he could move in a manner so fluid it had Lance scrabbling for purchase on his shoulders as his legs tightened, he lifted his face from where it had been buried in Lance's neck to take a look at how he was doing.

Lance lay panting beneath him, head thrown back into the pillow as moans and mewls casually fell from his lips. His face, normally so smooth and evenly colored, was a flushed ruddy mess with the darkest swatches of color haphazardly painted across his cheeks. Brown hair that was so perfectly kept was mussed in every direction, bangs sticking to his forehead with sweat, the tips ghosting over tightly closed eyelids hiding blue eyes with pupils blown wide with arousal. He was a mesmerizing sight, and for a moment Keith wondered if he looked as incredible when at the mercy of Lance and Hunk. If he looks as painfully aroused with a hand wrapped around a weeping cock, a litany of garbled half-formed pleas for something more tumbling out; if Lance and Hunk ever feel the desire to obey every order just to see what face he'll make next. If when he tosses his head back and swallows, their eyes follow the bobbing of his Adam's apple before marking the unmarred skin with their teeth and tongue. He only realizes that he leaned down to bite and suck at the junction of Lance's neck and shoulder because of how Lance thrusts back into him, tight heat finally taking him to the hilt as his keening cry mingles with Hunk's chuckle.

He thinks Hunk might have said something, but he can't focus on anything other than the feeling of finally being fully encased inside Lance, the echo of that desperate keen reverberating inside his mind, and the thought that he needs _more_ of it. It's like a flip has been switched, thrusts picking up speed and force gradually, the sound of skin slapping against skin increasing in frequency. Lance can only cling to him, nails digging into shoulder blades with ankles locking around his waist; for each little pinprick of pain Keith makes sucks another mark into his clavicle. It causes Lance to dig his nails deeper into his skin, and soon the two are stuck in a feedback loop of pleasurable pain that will only be stopped when one of them crashes over the edge into orgasm.

The end is in sight as Lance's voice climbs higher in pitch, a mantra of close leaving his mouth as his hand moves frantically over his cock. In a moment of clarity Keith wonders if the walls are soundproof, and that if they aren't then is someone listening in to their activities right now? He growls, displeased at the thought of someone else witnessing this moment; only he and Hunk were allowed to see this side of Lance, to listen to him beg for release. Perhaps more harshly than he intended he grasps Lance's face, squishing his cheeks and forcing him to look at him. Glittering blue eyes flutter open to stare up at him, a sliver of questioning clarity mixed in the lustful storm.

"Mine," it's the only warning Lance gets before Keith connects their lips, tongue dominating his pliant mouth as he slams to the hilt in Lance making sure to angle himself to brush right past his prostate. That show of dominance is all it takes for Lance; with a scream muffled by the tongue in his mouth he comes, semen spilling onto his hand and their stomachs. The involuntary contractions of his tight passage are the final straw for Keith, and with a shout he sprays into the condom, hips weakly jolting forward.

Hunk stands, arms raised above his head as he stretches, "Alright, I'll get you guys stuff to clean up. You just…stay still, try not to get… _stuff_ everywhere," Hunk grimaces as he leaves, the door sliding open and shut as he leaves.

Keith pulls back, slowly pulling out and wincing at the overstimulated whine that leaves Lance. He sits back on his heels fully prepared to mumble an apology; that is until he looked down and forgot how to breathe. Sloppily smeared all over his lean caramel stomach is Lance's cum, a scene straight out of one of Keith's more frequent fantasies. Perfectly shaped little pearls cling to his treasure trail while the rest gives his abdomen a creamy sheen, almost like a top coat to a perfect coat of nail polish. His mouth salivated with the desire to lick it up, fingers twitching at his sides to reach out and smear it all the way up to his chest.

A hand waving in front of his face snapped Keith out of his reverie, "Sorry, uh…what were you saying," a dark flush settled high on his cheeks as he pulled his gaze away; Lance stared at him curiously, head tilted to the side. Keith mentally swore at his own inability to focus his attention on whatever his teammate had said when presented with one of his desires. It was unbecoming of a leader of Voltron, but more importantly it was unlikely that Lance would even let him do it; best to just forget it.

"You wanna touch?"

He almost swallowed his own tongue as he snapped his head up, eyes wide as he stared at Lance. Lance meanwhile was the epitome of nonchalant, propped on his elbows and the pillows at the head of the bed. "You can, if you want," Lance shrugged, "Touch, that is."

Keith nodded, forcing himself to swallow past the lump in his throat. He tentatively reached a hand out to touch the white standing in such stark contrast to his skin. He hovered above it, hand shaking as he looked up to Lance for confirmation or a last minute rejection; Lance merely nodded, gesturing for him to get a move on. He pressed down, touch light as he smeared the cum into Lance's stomach, watching in rapt fascination at how easily it seemed to have disappeared. He reached higher, touch becoming firmer as he spread it over Lance's left pectoral, hand running over the dark brown nipple there. Lance arches into the touch, a quiet hum of approval vibrating in his chest; it has Keith wanting to start the sensual symphony all over again, replay that sweet crescendo of orgasm once again. Without a second thought he dips down, tongue pressing flat against the skin as he drags upwards, collecting the trail he had made earlier. He could feel how Lance trembled beneath him, the soft gasp of breath morphing into a quiet moan as he pushed past the sheen he left on his nipple to soothe the marks he made on his clavicle. Satisfied he pulled back to see if reality was better than his imagination; Lance stared up at him with wide eyes, the flush on his face pale in comparison to the one he wore during sex. It took less than a tick for Lance to surge upwards, capturing Keith's lips in another heated kiss as he pulled him down to lay flush against him. Neither was sure how much time had passed, only that they were sure that they were going to enter a second round had the door not slid open.

"Seriously guys," Hunk called out exasperatedly. The two paladins on the bed parted, flushed and panting as they looked over at Hunk; he stood in the doorway with hands on his hips, a damp rag in each, "You're gonna spread the mess, and then I'm gonna be the one that cleans it up!"

"Au contraire my compadre," Lance pushed himself up into a seated position, "Keith here took it upon himself to clean us up before we got feisty again."

"Did he use his mouth," The embarrassed silence was so thick one could have sliced it with Keith's bayard. "That's gross. _You're_ gross. The both of you, _gross_."

"I dunno, I thought it was kinda sexy," Lance shrugged, a sheepish grin on his face. He was rewarded with Hunk throwing both of the damp cloths at his face, hitting him right across the eyes. Hunk ignored the petulant whine that came from Lance, sitting back in his spot against the dresser and, after wiping his hands on his pants, continuing to work on the visor. Lance grumbled under his breath about overtly mean friends, handing Keith the other one. They scrubbed themselves clean in silence, tossing the cloths to the floor before settling themselves on the bed, Lance curled up against Keith's side like a cat; Keith wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer.

"So Hunk, you gonna tell me the story about what happened with the Ylgravit?"

Keith groaned, arm going to lay across his eyes; he had been on that particular mission, and had decided that if that species went extinct, he would shed no tears. Hunk perked up, setting the visor aside as his hands began to move animatedly.

"Oh man, so there we were on Planet Gronish, trying to make an alliance…"

Keith sighs, feeling himself and Lance nod off to Hunk's exuberant retelling of the story. As he slowly drifted off, he decided that there were worst situations to be a feature in someone's horror story and the topic of sentient lions' gossip.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm dying Squirtle**


	4. Don't Stagnate

The silence that permeated the castle during this time of their cycle allowed for Keith's footsteps to echo throughout the dim castle hallway, the sound bouncing off the metal walls to return to him like the thoughts in his head. He had thought that after they found Shiro he'd be able to catch a break, be able to physically feel the weight lifting off his shoulders as Shiro returned to his rightful position in the Black Lion. He had reasoned there would be a period of time where his anxiety would spike as he juggled saving the universe, keeping the team alive, doting on Shiro, and dealing with whatever the hell this thing between him, Lance, and Hunk was evolving into. But then the Black Lion had thrown him for yet another loop and rejected Shiro, and now he was dealing with all of the aforementioned while fighting with himself over whether he should just be the figurehead of Voltron while Shiro leads from behind the scenes, or if he should fight Shiro for total control. To make matters even worse, now Lance was spouting nonsense about not being good enough to be a Paladin and really, did he think any of them were good enough to be fighting an intergalactic war? Most of them weren't even old enough to drink; hell, Pidge wasn't even old enough to _drive_ , yet here she was piloting a giant green war machine.

Keith glanced at the floor as he walked, fists jammed deep into his pockets. Maybe it was something he did to cause this? Scratch that, of course it was something he did, Lance didn't start thinking this way until all these damned changes started happening. Sure Hunk had said not to worry about protecting Lance from his issues, but that was a lot easier said than done when the butterflies in his stomach made him hyper aware of how both Lance and Hunk seemed to glow when they were happy and how dismal things seemed whenever anything upset them. Was this a side effect of prolonged exposure to Lance and Hunk's relaxation methods? Maybe he could digest them, like he did with that cicada he ate when he was six just because someone said he couldn't.

The realization hit him so hard that Keith actually froze in the hallway; he scrubbed at his face as he began again, thoughts racing. How could he have been so blind? This was all because of their arrangement. Lance probably thought that Keith only saw him as an outlet for frustrations and, when mixed with everything else, thought that was all he was worth. Which was honestly crazy because had he _seen_ those shots he had made recently? Without him, there would have been a knife buried in some part of Keith's body, most likely in a life threatening place. This is why Keith hated change; it made people momentarily insane.

Shit, if someone as confident as Lance could be crippled by this then how the hell was Hunk holding up? That boy was already a walking teddy bear with severe anxiety when they got here, who knows what he was doing to deal with all this right now. A thousand thoughts with a thousand different scenarios whirled through his mind, like some vicious tornado where he was nothing more than Dorothy praying for stable footing before being slammed into the floor unconscious.

Maybe he was suicidal? Hunk didn't seem like the type, but they always said it was the person you least expected. But there was always ample opportunity in their battles, and the only people who even came close to exhibiting some of those behaviors were Lance, Keith, and at times Allura.

…Upon further consideration, Keith decided that that was a can of worms best left to be pushed way back in the cupboard of his mind where it could fester for decades past its expiration date.

So maybe not suicidal, but what about harming himself? There were lots of places to hide self-inflicted injuries under his clothing he wore outside of the times requiring Paladin armor. Plus, Hunk handled lots of sparking wires and sharp knives; he could easily explain away any injuries with those two hobbies. But then again, this was also the man who gets squeamish just from watching someone else get splinters removed. Keith didn't even bother to consider substance abuse as Hunk's stomach was so volatile that just a whiff of something disagreeable had him gagging; he couldn't imagine he'd be able to succeed in downing something to harm himself without vomiting it back up. Perhaps he suffered from some type of eating disorder?

Keith wasn't sure why, but he felt that someone somewhere in either this universe or the next was judging him for even thinking about Hunk and food in the same sentence, and demanding he either apologize or give a Ph.D. level dissertation on his reasoning.

Before he could continue down that never-ending rabbit hole, the door to the observation deck slid open. He blinked; he hadn't been consciously heading for the room, but apparently his subconscious remember how staring up at the night sky eased his worries and acted accordingly. However, despite it being a successful relaxation method, Keith tended to avoid it as the other paladins also tended to use the deck to ease their troubled minds. In fact, it was such a popular place to brood and angst that Shiro had secretly dubbed it "The Bat Cave". This seemed harmless and mildly humorous until you walked onto the deck to see Pidge sitting there with Coran at her side, computers in front of her and only needing the iconic costume to complete the imagery.

Allura had been quite concerned when they collapsed into wheezing breathless heaps on the bridge floor after having run faster than they ever remembered from the sight.

But it wasn't Pidge and Coran he found, or Shiro speaking with Allura in hushed tones. It wasn't even Hunk, the eye of his anxiety hurricane that drove him to this spot. No, instead it was Lance with his knees drawn so close to his chest that it looked like his jacket was swallowing him whole. He glanced behind him, the sound of the door opening alerting to another occupant; upon seeing that it was just Keith he gave a slight nod before turning back to stare out the massive window. Taking it as Lance's permission to intrude Keith stepped inside to take a seat beside him, conscious to leave a bit of space between them. Silence stretched between them, making that space feel as vast as the dark unforgiving expanse of space that lay before them. Unlike traveling through space Keith had no idea how to navigate this, or if he should even attempt to; luckily Lance seemed to be the ace pilot in this situation.

"You come to see the nebula too?"

If Lance hadn't of used the same tone when discussing stepping aside, Keith wouldn't have ever thought he could sound that way. Usually so vibrant and bright that it sometimes physically hurt to listen to him speak, this tone was quieter and more pensive, reminiscent of those moments when one would look to the heavens and wonder 'what is my life's purpose?'

Keith couldn't help but wonder if that's exactly what Lance had been doing before he walked in.

"No," Keith twisted himself to look at Lance, "I…didn't even know we were passing one."

He thought he saw some dark emotion pass over Lance's face before he schooled it to its previous expression.

"Yeah, Coran told us about it. Said it was one of the great wonders of the universe in his day. I tried to get Hunk to do a viewing party with me, but then Pidge started off on some technobabble about the whole thing and roped him and Coran into her own little science party for the event. And then I tried asking Allura and Shiro, but they said they had some important stuff to cover," Lance looked down, picking at a thread on his jacket. "I figured you were with them, so I didn't bother."

Something twisted in his chest at Lance's comment; whether it was because he wasn't being included in whatever Shiro and Allura were discussing or because Lance hadn't even bothered to look for him Keith wasn't sure. Before he could formulate a sentence Lance was already waving his hand in dismissal, a small smile on his face.

"I mean I get it, saving the universe and discovering all its secrets is a heck of a lot more important than just hanging around. It's just…" Lance trailed off, the smile slipping back to the slight frown he had been wearing previously. Keith found himself sliding a bit closer, the tips of their fingers almost touching on the floor.

"Just…" Keith prompted; Lance sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Just…you ever look around and think, 'this is the loneliest I've ever felt'. Like you could be in a crowded room, stuffed to the brim with people, and you feel just as alone as if you were sitting in that same room by yourself. And you try to talk to people, as many people as you possibly can, in the hopes of leaving some sort of impression that would make them want to get to know you better, but…" Lance pulled his hand away in favor of hugging his knees tightly to his chest, resting his chin atop them, "You feel like if they even do bother to get to know you it still won't matter; you'll still be lonely. Or, worse, they'll just…decide you aren't worth their time and leave you, and then you're even lonelier than before."

Keith prayed to every god he didn't believe in that not a single trace of his internal panic was evident as he listened to Lance talk. He tore open the file cabinets of his mind, desperately searching for anything to help Lance realize that he understood. With his attention focused on remembering every piece of advice he'd ever received on relating to others, a flood of questions about the situation came crashing through, forcing him to latch onto different ones in an effort to keep his head above water. Was this Lance's way of telling him that the arrangement was making him feel used? But no, this sounded too practiced, like he was painfully familiar with these thoughts; maybe he felt like this before Shiro disappeared. Maybe…he'd always felt this way, even back at the Garrison, and no matter what happened in their lives he'd feel this way. Was this what Hunk meant when Lance said he had his own issues? And if it was, how could he say not worry about it? In Keith's opinion, this was the definition of something to worry about.

He must have been silent for too long, or his expression was too serious, because the next thing he realized Lance was awkwardly clearing his throat beside him. Keith snapped back to attention, watching as Lance rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, just…forget I said anything," Lance's pitch rose at the end, as if him standing up from his spot wasn't an obvious enough sign of how uncomfortable he was. "It's stupid, I shouldn't have said anything. I'll just…" He sighed, jerking his head towards the door, "Yeah."

"No," it came out sharper than he had wanted, but Keith's body seemed to be operating on autopilot as he grabbed Lance's sleeve and yanked him back down. Lance fell harshly on his rear with a yelp; he rubbed his backside as he stared at Keith incredulously. In all honesty if Keith were in Lance's position, he'd be staring at himself too. Even though he wanted to comfort Lance and let him know that he wasn't alone in his thoughts, he didn't have the first clue about how to do it. If he was remembering correctly all those stupid advice columns always said 'use past experiences', but how was he supposed to use his past experiences when not only could he barely get through them without crying, but without making it seem like he was taking the attention away from Lance. Besides, they said to use things that a person could find some common ground and, unless Lance had a tragic family backstory he'd yet to unlock, the only common ground they had was their time at the Galaxy Garrison.

In that moment inspiration hit Keith like a game controller thrown in a fit of rage to the back of the head.

"The Garrison," He blurted; Lance merely blinked at him in confusion. Keith forced himself to continue, despite the alarms in his head telling to cease and desist. "The…The Garrison, I-I guess I felt like that there. I never…never really got why people would want to hang out when we could be practicing 'cuz like, why would you ever focus on Earth when you're going to a school to go to space? It, it didn't make any _sense_. But…I guess, people thought _I_ didn't make sense, so cuz of that and some…some other stuff, I just kinda pushed people away. And then all the scores came out, and soon enough the only person who even bothered to try to get to know me was Shiro. Which, you know, it's whatever but…I dunno, I guess having one best friend wasn't really enough? And I want, or well I-I mean wanted, more? Does, does that make sense?"

For one terrifying moment Keith thought that Lance wasn't going to understand, and that he had exposed a small portion of himself for no reason at all. Or that Lance was going to become upset at how he phrased it and that he'd start yelling about how selfish Keith was, and why couldn't he just do this one simple task right. But, perhaps by the grace of one of those gods Keith didn't believe in, Lance did neither; instead he smiled softly, posture relaxing as he moved closer to Keith.

"Yeah, that makes perfect sense," Lance muttered, placing his hand atop Keith's; Keith's mind blanked as he zeroed in on the warm comforting weight encasing his hand. Out of all the endings to this situation that he had thought of, having Lance actually say he understood what he meant never crossed his mind. Even if he had managed to imagine it, he sincerely doubted he'd able to replicate the unbridled fondness in Lance's half-lidded gaze, or how the starlight seemed to soften all his angles until he was practically fuzzy around the edges, like a vision of unadulterated love and understanding. A vision that was getting clearer with every inch Lance took to lean closer to him.

Wait…Keith thought, feeling as if a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on his head, was Lance…was Lance planning to _kiss_ him? The thought stole Keith's breath away and left his mind reeling, like a swift punch to the gut. Since when was kissing in public on the table? Had it always been, and he'd just been too inept to realize it? To be fair, he hadn't exactly been given a handbook on all the rules and stipulations that came with a casual sex relationship, so it wasn't exactly his fault if he didn't know. But, looking back at the increase of casual touches between the three of them, maybe it wasn't so surprising that Lance was trying to kiss him in a semi-private romantic area. Maybe…maybe Lance and Hunk had gotten together in private and decided that he needed an obvious sign that they wanted more of these interactions.

A solid warm weight pressing against his side pulled him back to reality. There, curled against his left side with his head resting comfortably on his shoulder as he looked up at him, was Lance. The only thing Lance seemed to actively be doing is trying to get comfortable while still being able to sit upright to look out the window.

"You okay," Lance asked, brows furrowed. "You got all tense. This too much?"

"No," Keith inwardly cursed as his voice cracked on the swift response. He should've known it was just him misinterpreting obvious signals. He cleared his throat, trying to regain that nonchalant façade, "This is, this is fine."

The furrow in Lance's brow deepened, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a gasp as the nebula came into view. Keith found his own gaze drawn to the sight as the room was flooded by the nebula's golden glow. Through the glass, against the black canvas of nothingness framed by alien constellations and distant planets, was a massive golden cloud resembling a paint splatter. Interwoven throughout the shimmering fabric were blue-green and red-orange double helixes, forming intricate rows and columns. Where the red-orange and blue-green connected an explosion of the deepest purple appeared. No single color truly overpowered the other, as if the artist whose paintbrush created this masterpiece understood exactly how much color and pressure to use to bring this extraordinary rainbow to life.

"Wow…" Lance breathes, drawing Keith's attention, "The universe sure is amazing, huh?"

Keith takes in his profile; how the stars reflect in his eyes, creating beautiful galaxies untouched by any empire's wrath. How the brilliant light casts an ethereal glow to his already radiant skin, making him look so much more than human. Keith takes it all in and feels a warmth as comforting and soft as the one he feels sitting in the Red Lion's cockpit spread through his chest.

"Yeah," He breathes, a soft smile on his face, "It is."

* * *

The two of them sat for what felt like hours under the light of the nebula. Between the quiet admiration of the splendors of the universe and making up constellations,

("That's the Macro Penis."

"You said that about the last one."

"No, I said that one was the _Micro_ Penis. Clean the crud out of your ears mullet.")

Keith somehow remembered to ask Lance if everything was alright with Hunk. Lance looked up at him incredulously before bursting into laughter, much to Keith's confusion.

"Buddy, if Hunk was upset about something, Zarkon himself would know about it. That dude is a massive complainer."

"But what if it's something serious," Keith pressed, unconvinced. It would be just like Lance to cover for his best friend. "What if he feels he needs to keep it secret?"

Lance shrugged before burrowing further into Keith's side. "If it's bothering you that much, ask him. Now hush, I think I just found _Canis Feces Excretus_."

With those words repeating through his mind like a mantra, Keith set off through the castle to confront Hunk. He vaguely remembered Hunk off-handedly mentioning that when he was stressed he had a tendency to bake uncontrollably; apparently the order and logic of recipes was soothing to his frayed nerves. He dodged the other inhabitants of the castle with practiced ease, determined to make it to the kitchen without conversing with another person so as to prevent him from losing his focus. God help the man, woman, Altean, Galra, or one of the other billion species of aliens to exist that crossed his path; not even Zarkon himself could stop Keith from seeing this mission through.

The sweet scent of some alien fruit wafted down the halls, the only sign that Keith was getting close to the kitchen. He sped up unconsciously, mouth salivating at the prospect of getting to have a taste of one of Hunk's creations straight from the oven. Before he realized it Keith was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching as Hunk bent over to pull a tray from the oven. Keith was helpless to stop the smile from appearing on his face as he watched Hunk swing his hips to the beat of the nonsensical tune he was humming, the same warmth he felt with Lance spreading like a slow burning fire through his chest.

Hunk turned, flinching slightly as he caught sight of Keith. "Oh! Hey man, didn't hear you come in. You want some pie?"

Hunk tilted the pie tin, showing off a beautiful traditional lattice top that belonged on the pies of the universe's greatest bakers. Underneath that however was a filling that quite honestly looked like yellow-green vomit, complete with a few floating chunks of what Keith assumed were the fruits that he used. Despite the filling's unappetizing appearance, the smell was absolutely divine; if he closed his eyes and ignored the texture, Keith was sure that he could eat the entire thing in one sitting. It was because of all these conflicting feelings about a simple pie swirling in his mind that Keith decided the best course of action was to bluntly ask what he originally came for.

"Are you stressed?"

Hunk blinked as he set the pie down. "Uh…no? I mean, not any more than usual. Why? Should I be?"

"No, no not at all. I was just…" Keith felt the flush creep up the back of his neck as he backtracked, desperately searching for an escape route. He cleared his throat, eyes flitting to the pie. "So pie huh?"

"Uh…yeah…" Hunk slowly pulled out a serving knife, eyeing Keith warily, "I used some of the supplies we picked up from that one planet. You wanna try it?"

Keith shrugged as he pulled up a chair to sit at the counter; Hunk smile lit up his face as he launched into chatter while cutting up the pie.

"I'm actually really glad you came in when you did, otherwise I'd have no one else to test this out." Hunk slid a slice onto a plate before digging in for another. "Ever since the whole scaultrite cookies thing Pidge refuses to try anything alien until it's either been examined or someone else tried it first. And Shiro, poor guy, says he always gets such a bad headache when he smells certain things that he's afraid he's gonna puke. Which you know, I get, vomiting uncontrollably is not a fun experience."

"I'd imagine." Keith said, eyeing the particularly large slice that Hunk had plated. As Hunk got up and headed to the fridge he decided to say a quick prayer to the same gods as last night that that slice was for him. He figured if it worked last night, then there was certainly no harm in trying again, right?

"Yeah, so then that leaves Allura, Coran, and Lance as my only other taste testers," Hunk said as he began rummaging through the fridge. "Allura and Coran have really… _unique_ tastes, which sometimes don't really translate well to us. And as for Lance, well, ever since the whole Xyranthia incident he's been about as skittish as Pidge is."

Keith silently cheered as Hunk slid a large glass of milk from Kaltenecker and the large slice of pie he'd been eyeing earlier towards him. "That was a weird movement."

"You're telling me." Hunk plopped into the seat across from him, beginning to dig into his slice, "Not allergic to anything on Earth, but eat this one herb from Aralmak and suddenly he turns neon pink and blows up like a puffer fish."

Keith nodded as he brought the forkful of pie into his mouth. He moaned, eyes fluttering shut as an explosion of flavor immediately swamped his taste buds. If he were forced to describe it in Earth terms Keith would have to say that it came closest to resembling an apple pie, the kind that one thought of when they pictured a pie sitting cooling on a windowsill. The filling had that same sweet tang of Earth apples followed by the tingling spice of whatever Hunk had used to replace cinnamon and nutmeg. All of it was complimented by the warm buttery flakes of crust that provided that perfect crisp texture to offset the gooey fruits before melting in his mouth. In short it was perfection incarnate, even if it did leave a tingling feeling in his mouth and throat; Keith found he couldn't stop himself from shoveling more of the pie into his mouth. It wasn't only until he had washed down the last vestiges of the pie with the milk Hunk provided that he noticed that he seemed sweatier than usual, and that the tingling hadn't been washed away with the flavoring of the pie. He looked over at Hunk, who was staring at him in mixture of rapt fascination and vague horror, fork long forgotten.

"Ith mah tongue thuppothet to theel like dith?" Keith wasn't sure why words were suddenly a lot harder to say all of a sudden, but his question was enough to have Hunk shooting out of his seat as if he'd been shot.

"Oh man, Allura's gonna kill me," Hunk whined as he desperately searched the packs hanging from his belt, "I'm gonna have to go on the run, forever hiding from both the Galra and Allura. Maybe Sal will take me back, he seems like the kinda guy to harbor fugitives if they make him a profit."

"Hunk what are you talking about?" Hunk didn't respond, only giving a small joyful cry as he pulled out the item he was so desperately searching for. Keith tilted his head in confusion as he stared at the orange and white oblong object; why was Hunk looking so hard for a pen? He didn't get a chance to voice his question as Hunk raced to his side, ripping off the blue cap.

"Alright, now you're just gonna feel a little pinch," Hunk said as he stabbed the orange pen into Keith's outer left thigh. Keith shrieked as he felt a needle pierce through his jeans, trying to pull away but failing as Hunk kept him in place.

"I know I know I know, I'm sorry I'm sorry," Hunk babbled, pulling out the needle and tossing it to the floor. He then began to vigorously massage the area around the stab wound, as if he were trying to ease the pain. After what felt like a dobash of Hunk kneading at the flesh of his thigh he stood.

"Alright, now we gotta go see Coran and make sure you're okay," Hunk said with an air of finality. The questions Keith were dying to ask were interrupted by the squeal he made as Hunk squatted and lifted him into his arms in a bridal carry as if he weighed absolutely nothing. He clung to Hunk's shirt as they swiftly moved, heart racing and muscles shaking in what he assumed was surprise. A part of him wondered if it had anything to do with whatever Hunk had stabbed him with; it was quickly crushed by the memories of Hunk having only his best interests at heart.

"Hunk, what ith-" The question dried up as he caught a quick glimpse of his face in one of the castle's many reflective services. He scrambled out of Hunk's hold, ignoring the Yellow Paladin's protests, hoping to dispel the image he thought he saw.

Staring back at him with the same panicked expression was a man whose normally pale complexion was covered in a rash the same shade of orange as Coran's hair and whose tongue stuck out of his mouth like a panting dog. Shakily Keith raised a hand to press into his cheek, watching in rapt horror as the reflection pressed a hand into a swollen pouch on its face at the same time he did. As all the information this image provided was processed, Keith proceeded as any regular person would and screamed loud enough to be heard by passing ships.

" _What the_ _ **thuck**_ _happened to mah thace?"_

* * *

After a visit to the med bay and receiving a scolding from Coran about putting unapproved items in their mouths, Keith and Hunk moved to the living area. Despite Keith insisting that he was alright, both Coran and Hunk had decided it was better that he be monitored for any adverse side effects that required immediate medical attention. The silence between the two was stifling, like a thunderstorm on a summer night just waiting to happen, tension so thick Keith was sure he could cut it with his bayard. Hunk sat on the other end of the couch, fingers twiddling uselessly as he tried to focus on anything other than the icy glare Keith was sending him. It wasn't that Keith was particularly mad at Hunk, but rather that he was mad at the situation in general and poor Hunk was the conduit for it all. After all, if he hadn't gone to check on him then he wouldn't have eaten the deadly delicious pie with ingredients that apparently all members of the Galra race were highly allergic to. Something that, if Hunk had properly done research on first, he would have known and not gone and offered the only Galra teammate a slice and saved Keith the humiliation of looking like an overgrown hamster.

Alright, so maybe Keith was a little mad Hunk wasn't suffering the same fate right now; sue him.

The door to the room slid open, revealing Pidge strolling in with her laptop in her arms. She paused, the door sliding shut behind her, taking in Keith's appearance. "So…looks like we had another Xyranthia incident?"

"I told him I was sorry," Hunk shouted, arms flailing out to his sides. "I didn't know that Galra reacted to Fifin berries that way; if I had I would've never offered it to him!"

"Right…" Pidge inched her way to the door leading to the hangar bay. "I'm just gonna…go work on stuff with the Green Lion. You guys do whatever it was you were doing before I walked in."

As quickly as she had come in Pidge was gone, once again leaving Hunk and Keith alone in the common area. Keith huffed, adjusting his position on the couch and preparing himself for another long bout of tense silence. His preparation went to waste though when Hunk began to speak.

"You know I didn't mean to right? Like, honest to God if I knew I'd have never offered it to you. I just, I dunno," Hunk looked down at his hands, "I get really excited when I make new stuff, and I just wanna share it with everyone. And, sometimes…I just kinda forget that we're in space and some stuff might not be the same, cuz it still feels a lot like home, ya know?"

Keith sighed, feeling a sense of guilt coming over him at the sight of Hunk's hunched over form. He knew he didn't experience homesickness like the other paladins; he missed certain foods or sensations, but he had the person who would patiently wait for his return here in the castle with him. He didn't have families waiting for him on Earth like Lance and Hunk, and he had found the missing parts of his family unlike Pidge. It was just yet another level that Keith couldn't relate to any of them on, another impassable canyon keeping him from truly forming a profound relationship with them. But then he thought of last night with Lance and how that canyon between them seemed to shrink when Lance had laid his head against Keith's shoulder. How all it took was a poor excuse of a relatable experience to begin adding more boards to the shoddy bridge they'd constructed together. So maybe, if he just tried…maybe…

"F'ying the lionth."

Hunk's head jerked up, eyes wide as he fixed Keith with his gaze. Ignoring the alarm bells in his mind Keith continued to take the leap of faith, directing his attention to a corner of the room. "It wemindth meh of widing mah hothabike, jutht…without the wind in mah hair. Ant…Ah mith it thometimeth. F'ying the Wed Lion or the Black Lion ithn' the thame."

A loud sniffle caused him to jerk his attention back to Hunk. A jolt of panic flooded his system as he saw the Yellow Paladin staring at him with large teary brown eyes. "Wh-Why are you cwying?"

"Because you just shared a piece of yourself, and you never do that." Hunk sniffed, wiping at his eyes with the hem of his shirt. "You've always got these walls up, and seeing you break them down a bit, it just…oh come 'ere you!"

In the blink of an eye Keith found himself wrapped up in a tight hug, and for a moment all he could think of was how Hunk could really move fast when he wanted to. Soon the thought slipped from his grasp like water as he focused on how safe and warm he felt with Hunk. It was as if the feeling in his chest he'd been getting recently had taken the Yellow Paladin's physical form, enticing him to relax within Hunk's arms.

It…It was _nice_ , Keith thought as he did just that, tucking his head underneath Hunk's chin. He'd most likely scold himself later for indulging, reminding himself that no one's presence in his life was meant to be permanent. But, as Hunk readjusted his hold to make it more comfortable for Keith, he supposed he could allow it; think of it as payback for the whole fifin berry pie thing.

Yeah, Keith sighed, a small smile gracing his face, it was just payback as far as anyone else needed to be concerned.

* * *

"-and then he just went all limp, and at first I was like 'Oh my God he's gone into shock he's gonna die"! But then I looked down and he was just all curled up with his head tucked under my chin with this soft little smile on his face and Lance I swear to God he looked like a little tabby kitten."

After Hunk had deemed that Keith was no longer in life threatening danger and could walk around the castle without someone quoting Willy Wonka, he had raced to Lance's room and leapt onto the Paladin's bed. Normally Lance would have scolded the Yellow Paladin lengthily on the merits of proper rest, but after Hunk somehow managed to convey that _yes Lance this_ _ **is**_ _an emergency_ , he was able to get away with a strong warning.

Lance groaned, dragging his hands down his face, "Oh my God, are you _serious_? First the general attractiveness, then the stupid starlight making him look like some kind of stupid pretty space alien, and now he's a tabby cat." Lance fell backwards onto his bed, arm flung dramatically over his face, "Hunk, buddy, do me a solid and toss me out the airlock real quick would ya?"

Hunk flopped backwards beside him, mirroring his pose, "Not unless you take me with you."

"And leave the care and feeding of everyone to Coran? Absolutely not. That's like, Galra Empire levels of cruel and unusual punishment."

"Yeah that's fair." Hunk sighed, rolling onto his side to face Lance. A comfortable silence enveloped the room as they lay beside each other. It was a silence born from two people whose lives were so entwined with the other that they didn't feel the need to fill the void with idle chatter, not when they could bask in the nuanced expressions of the other's body language. At the Galaxy Garrison these sessions seemed to happen daily, the two of them staring up at the ceiling discussing whatever came to their minds. Sometimes they stayed like this, just lying side by side; others they would wind themselves tightly around one another, heads tucked under chins and one set of hands clasped together as they traded soft intimate touches with the other.

"Is this what it feels like whenever you're on the receiving end of things," Hunk asked as he reached out to play with Lance's fingers, "This wonderful, kinda painful feeling in your chest?"

"Well first off it'd be my ass hurtin'," Lance grinned, turning to stare at Hunk. "And if they're doing it right, there really shouldn't be that much pain. But yeah, it's the same general concept."

"How do you deal with it?"

Lance shrugged, "Pray to every god I believe in and some that I don't that everything will turn out alright."

At the sight of Hunk's disbelieving stare, Lance continued with arms gesticulating wildly. "What? It's never failed me before! I mean look at me; I'm a Garrison fighter pilot turned Defender of the Universe who's gotten to sleep with a lot of pretty people!"

Hunk hummed, tapping his finger to his chin; his shoulders slumped forward in defeat, a small smile on his face. "Well when you put it like that, you make a very convincing argument for me to expand my personal pantheon."

The giggles bubbled forth from Lance like water from a fountain that had just started again after a long dry spell. Following soon after were Hunk's deep chuckles, the sound reminding Lance of coins full of wishes and hope being dropped into a fountain; he felt the familiar wonderful squeeze in his chest he got every time he heard Hunk's laugh. He couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face as he watched Hunk slowly cease the chuckling.

"Hey," Hunk's eyes opened to the sight of Lance offering a closed fist to him, "We still bromates for life?"

Hunk grinned, bumping his own fist against Lance's, "'Til the inevitable heat death of the universe."

Lance returned the grin, and for a moment Hunk felt his breath catch in his chest, "Coolio. Now Hunk, my man, you have _got_ to spill about if that fifin berry pie is safe for everyone, cuz I'm about _this_ close to being ready to screw the universe over to satisfy a craving."

Hunk huffed in amusement, launching into the technical aspects of his most recent baking endeavor. Worrying about potentially adding another person to their little duo could wait; right now, he had a universe to save.

* * *

 **A/N: What the fuck even is this I don't-**


End file.
